UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT   OF   CAPT.   AND   MRS. 
PAUL  MCBRIDE  PERIGORD 


UJHYBBSITY  of  CALlFUKr^i^ 

AT 

LOS  ANGELES 

UBRARY 


MANUAL  OF 
FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 


John    IV.    Griggs 


>    '       I         7 


**^     :»\'      y^y    .>^       > 


MANUAL  OF 


FORENSIC 
QUOTATIONS 


By 

LEON  MEAD 
and 

F.   NEWELL   GILBERT 

Introduction 
by 
JOHN  W,   GRIGGS 


NEW   YORK 

J.  F.  TAYLOR    &   COMPANY 

MCMUI 


136509 


*     ■     « 


(    •      •  •  • 


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..     •'      •»:    .'.:       •     ••        "•         .      -.._■.••..      .    «>,» 


. .       . .     •     .♦ 


COPYRIGHT,     1903,     BY 
J.  F.  TAYLOR         AND 

COMPANY,       NEW        YORK 

Published     April,     I  go  J 


INTRODUCTION 

FORENSIC  eloquence  is  the  most  popular,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  most  evanescent,  of  all  public 
speech.  That  so  few  of  the  great  speeches  of  legal 
advocates  have  been  preserved  is  not  due  to  their  lack  of 
those  inherent  qualities  which  make  eloquence  live,  but 
rather  to  the  temporary  occasion  and  the  transient  uses 
for  which  they  are  made.  There  is  no  Congressional 
Record  to  embody  in  perpetual  form  the  dialogue  and  re- 
partee of  the  court-room,  or  to  spread  before  the  public  in 
legible  character  the  speeches  of  counsel  to  the  gentlemen 
of  the  jury.  Rarely  are  legal  addresses  in  jury  cases  pre- 
pared in  advance,  and,  being  the  extemporaneous  out- 
pouring of  the  immediate  thought  and  feeling  of  the 
speaker,  there  exists  no  copy  to  which  posterity  can  go. 
Fortunately,  however,  not  all  the  great  speeches  of  great 
advocates  have  been  lost  upon  the  air  of  their  first  deliver- 
ance. The  speeches  of  Demosthenes  and  Cicero  are 
most  valued  treasures  in  classic  literature,  and  models  of 
the  art  of  advocacy  as  well. 

It  is  the  English-speaking  Bar,  however,  that  has 
abounded  most  in  examples  of  brilliant  and  moving  elo- 
quence. The  English  advocate  and  his  American  brother 
belong  to  a  system  of  jurisprudence  in  which  the  functions 
of  moving  speech  have  the  largest  play.  Their  duties 
call  them  to  the  maintenance  and  defense  of  life  and 
liberty,  of  property  and  reputation. 

The  dearest  and  most  valuable  rights  of  mankind  are 
submitted  to  the  arbitrament  of  jury  trial.  Jurors  arc 
men  "  of  the  vicinage  " ;  in  the  language  of  the  ancient 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

venire,  liberi  et  legates  homines — men  of  ordinary  every- 
day capacity,  subject  to  all  the  prejudices,  to  all  the  pas- 
sions, to  all  the  emotions  of  the  human  mind.  They  can 
be  reasoned  with ;  they  can  be  inflamed,  made  indignant 
or  merciful,  generous  or  severe,  unjust  or  righteous  in 
their  verdicts,  as  they  are  moved  to  one  sentiment  or 
another  by  the  art  of  the  advocate  who  is  a  master  of  elo- 
quence. It  is  to  the  jury  that  the  contesting  litigants 
mutually  appeal  for  the  final  adjustment  of  their  con- 
flicting claims.  So  that  the  lawyer  who  speaks  in  such  a 
case  is  no  mere  academic  orator,  aiming  to  produce  fine 
sentences  and  swelling  periods  that  will  look  well  in  print 
next  day,  but  one  who  has  a  direct  and  single  object 
before  him — to  convince  the  judgment  and  secure  the 
assent  of  the  twelve  men  in  the  jury-box  to  the  correct- 
ness of  his  client's  cause.  Here,  then,  we  might  expect, 
and  here,  in  fact,  we  shall  find,  eloquence  in  its  least 
artificial  form — where  reasoning  is  most  persuasive, 
where  emotion  is  most  real,  and  where  all  the  arts  of 
rhetoric,  learning,  wit,  humor,  irony,  sarcasm,  indigna- 
tion, denunciation  are  employed  in  the  most  genuine  and 
natural  manner. 

To  preserve  these  flitting  and  evanescent  outbursts  of 
eloquence  is  a  worthy  and  desirable  thing.  Many  a  great 
lawyer  of  the  past,  who  would  otherwise  remain  mute 
and  inglorious,  will  thus  speak  on  to  future  generations 
in  the  glowing  words  with  which  he  erstwhile  enthralled 
the  minds  of  his  audience  in  some  rural  courthouse  as  he 
reasoned  of  law,  of  justice,  of  righteousness,  and  of  the 
judgments  of  this  world  and  of  the  world  to  come. 


/r 


LIST  OF  COUNSEL  AND  AUTHORITIES 

QUOTED 


Barnes,  William  Sanford 
Beach,  William  A. 
Beaconsfield,    Lord 
Bentham,  Jeremy 
Beveridge,  A.  J. 
Black,  Jeremiah  S. 
Blackburn,  C.  S. 
Bradish,  Luther 
Brady,  James  T, 
Bright,  John 
Brougham,   Lord 
Brown,  David  Paul 
Brown,   Thomas 
Burke,   Edmund 
Burke,  Frank  B. 
Butler,  Benjamin  F. 
Calhoun.  John  C. 
Carrington.  Edward  C. 
Chambers,   F.   X. 
Chccvcr.  Henry   M. 
Choate,  Joseph  H. 
Choate,  Rufus 
Clay.  Henry 
Conkling.  Roscoe 
Corwin.  Thomas 
Crittenden.  John  J. 


Curran,  John  Philpot 
Davis,  Ex-Governor, 
Depew,  Chauncey  M. 
Dexter,  Wert 
Dickinson,  Daniel  S. 
Douglas,  Stephen  A. 
Elam,  John  B. 
Erskine,  Thomas 
Evarts,  William  M. 
Field,  David  Dudley 
Forsythe,  George  D. 
Fox,  Charles  James, 
Garfield.  James  A. 
Gordon,  J.  W. 
Graham,  George  S. 
Graham,  John 
Hadlev,  Cash  C. 
Hamilton,  Alexander 
Harrison,  Benjamin 
Hart.  Professor  A.  B. 
Henry.  Patrick 
Hoar,  Bartholomew 
Hughes.  James 
Ingalls.  John  J. 
Ingersoll.  Robert  G, 
Jackson,  Andrew 


VII 


Vlll 


COUNSEL  AND  AUTHORITIES 


Jones,  Col.  H.  C. 
Kern,  John  W. 
Knowlton,  H.  M. 
Lehman,  Frederick  W. 
Lincohi,  Abraham 
Lothrop,  G.  V.  N. 
Luzenburg,   Judge, 
Mackintosh,  Sir  James 
McKinley,  William 
Madison,  James 
Neilson,  Joseph 
Nye,   Frank   M. 
O'Conor,  Charles 
Pitt,  William 
Pinkney,  William 
Ponsonby,  George 
Porter,  John  K. 
Prentiss,   Sergeant   S. 
Quin,  Thomas 
Raines,  George 


Randolph,  John 
Rose,  David  S. 
Ryan,  Judge 
Seward,  William  H. 
Smith,  Charles  W. 
Spaan,  Henry  N. 
Stanton,  Edwin  M. 
Sumner,  Charles 
Thom,  Alfred  P. 
Tombs,  Robert 
Tremain,  Lyman 
Van  Arman,  John 
Van  Dyke,  J.  A. 
Voorhees,  Daniel  W. 
Webster,  Daniel 
Wilson,  Edgar  W. 
Wirt,  William 
Wise,  John  A. 
Woodward,  John 


PREFACE 

Much  exciting  and  romantic  interest  attaches  to  cer- 
tain modern  jury  trials,  but  it  does  not  fall  within  the  plan 
and  scope  of  this  work  to  tell  the  story  of  each  case  or  to 
give  technical  analyses  of  the  arguments  of  counsel. 
Before  the  era  of  stenography  many  eloquent  speeches 
were  lost — no  record  of  them  remains — though  the  fame 
of  the  orator  may  survive.  But,  fortunately,  some  of  the 
best  sayings  of  the  most  illustrious  pleaders  have  been 
preserved,  as  for  instance,  those  of  Curran,  Lord  Erskine, 
Lord  Chatham,  Burke,  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  Patrick 
Henry,  William  Wirt,  Webster,  Choate,  Seward,  David 
Paul  Brown,  O'Conor,  Graham,  Stanton,  Evarts,  Beach, 
Butler,  Voorhees,  Van  Arman,  Judge  Black,  Lothrop, 
Ryan,  Porter,  Tremain,  Conkling,  Benjamin  Harrison, 
and  many  others  whose  fervid  appeals  and  trained  genius 
before  courts  and  juries  have  made  the  literature  of  the 
Anglic  bar  superior  to  any  other  of  its  kind  in  all  the 
world.  Indeed,  it  is  the  intellectual,  ethical  and  human- 
istic side  of  the  law  and  its  interpreters  that  is  chiefly 
offered  to  the  reader  in  these  pages.  It  is  meant  to  be  a 
book  for  all  who  love  great  truths  said  in  a  great  way, 
and  not  a  formal  digest  for  lawyers.  Yet  to  the  latter  it 
should  not  come  amiss  in  the  matter  of  illustrative  passages 
or  of  suggestions  upon  which  they  might  well  model  their 
own  thoughts.  For  a  like  reason  it  should  be  serviceable 
to  editors,  writers,  preachers,  and  public  men. 

xi 


xii  PREFACE 

It  is  a  well-attested  fact  that  the  most  powerful  and 
affecting  forensic  eloquence  has  been  heard  in  criminal 
and  civil  trials.  In  dry  legal  arguments,  before  appellate 
courts,  the  lawyer  seldom  if  ever  rises  to  a  Ciceronian 
standard  of  utterance,  and,  if  he  did,  he  would  doubtless 
make  himself  ridiculous.  To  discuss  abstract  questions 
of  law  in  a  grandiloquent  manner,  or  to  attempt  an  mi- 
passioncd  presentment  of  commonplaces  would  be  a  very 
good  way  for  an  advocate  to  defeat  his  own  cause.  But 
in  a  criminal  or  civil  case  there  may  be  favorable  chances 
for  the  gifted  lawyer,  either  in  behalf  of  the  people  or 
plaintiff,  or  the  defendant,  to  play  upon  the  emotions  and 
excite  the  sympathies  of  the  jury,  with  the  magic  power 
of  words. 

Many  persons  have  long  felt  the  need  of  a  work  wherein 
might  be  found  the  gist  of  great  thoughts  uttered  by  lead- 
ing members  of  the  bar,  in  famous  and  important  criminal 
and  civil  trials.  To  meet  this  distinct  demand  the  com- 
pilers have  culled  from  many  speeches  made  in  the  courts 
of  England  and  the  United  States,  using  also  a  few  ex- 
tracts from  addresses  not  delivered  in  a  court-room,  but 
having  some  coordinate  merit  that  entitles  them  to  a 
place. 

Wherever  possible,  personal  allusions  to  the  defendants 
made  by  the  respective  attorneys,  have  been  eliminated, 
and  the  guiding  principle  has  been  to  retain  the  broad 
legal  propositions,  and,  under  classified  headings,  those 
sublime  conclusions  and  fine  ethics  by  the  knowledge  of 
which  the  average  man  may  the  more  deeply  appreciate 
his  rights  and  privileges,  the  more  clearly  understand  his 
relations  to  society,  and  be  the  better  equipped  to  fulfill 
the  duties  of  citizenship.  Also  are  given  various  maxims 
of  the  old  Roman  and  of  the  English  Law,  which  still 
appeal  to  human  reason,  as  they  did  centuries  ago,  and 


PREFACE  xiii 

which  as  criteria  are  so  perfect  and  popular  that  they 
never  will  be  discarded  while  man  exists  on  the  earth. 

It  is  true,  the  processes  of  argument  and  the  conduct  of 
cases  have  changed  in  the  last  hundred  years,  but  the  basic 
conceptions  of  right  and  wrong  have  not  altered.  Says 
George  Perry  Morris :  "  Joseph  Choate  dare  not  deal 
with  judges  or  juries  as  did  Rufus  Choate.  Rhetoric  and 
imagination  and  dogmatism  are  at  a  discount  now  at  the 
bar,  in  the  pulpit,  on  the  hustings,  in  the  halls  of  Con- 
gress." But  if  the  modern  spirit  prefers  facts  to  theories, 
we  nevertheless  must  look  to  these  dead  and  gone  Titans 
of  the  legal  profession  for  the  best  quality  of  wisdom 
and  the  highest  grade  of  oratory. 

\'ariety  of  expression  has  not  been  sought  at  the  ex- 
pense of  quality  of  thought.  The  purpose  has  been  to 
make  special  selections  which  elucidate  the  given  subject 
briefly  and  clearly.  In  some  cases,  a  mere  suggestion  of 
the  analysis  or  argument  is  given  and  the  reader,  thus 
thrown  on  his  own  resources  of  logic,  may  pursue  for 
himself  a  perhaps  profitable  line  of  reasoning.  Or  if  his 
interest  be  piqued  to  know  all  the  lawyer  said,  the  full 
speech,  in  most  instances,  may  be  easily  obtained. 

To  garner  those  merely  pompous  and  melodramatic 
sayings  that  have  been  heard  in  many  notorious  trials  and 
lawsuits  in  England  and  America  has  not  been  the  aim 
in  preparing  this  volume.  Such  a  task  would  be  stupen- 
dous, not  to  say  devoid  of  practical  value.  The  excerpts 
here  collected  all  have  a  bearing  on  tlie  deathless  princi- 
ples of  English  or  .American  law  and  jurisprudence,  and 
are  reinforced  by  the  many  legal  maxims  of  Justinian  and 
others. 

A  notable  feature  of  tlie  collection,  which  should  be 
appreciated  by  young  students  and  others,  is  the  series  of 
portraits,  some  of  them  rare  ones,  of  eminent  advocates, 


XIV  PREFACE 

who  have  taken  part  in  the  criminal  and  civil  trials  re- 
ferred to  herein.  It  should  be  added  that  some  of  these 
men  whose  portraits  are  given  were  essentially  jurists, 
with  no  desire  for  ordinary  criminal  practice,  but  who 
were  occasionally  induced  to  identify  themselves  with 
some  extraordinary  case  involving — let  us  say — the  good 
of  humanity. 


Manual  of  Forensic  Quotations 


ACCOMPLICES. 

Gentlemen,  it  must  be  remembered,  in  the  first  place, 
that  accomplices  in  murder  cases  are  not  generally  selec- 
ted from  among  the  honorable ;  they  are  taken  from  the 
scenes  of  blood.  It  is  not  commonly  to  be  expected  that 
they  are  men  of  high  character  or  conscience.  In  the 
very  nature  of  things,  he  whose  knowledge  of  crime  is 
such  that  it  involves  a  degree  of  moral  guilt  on  his  own 
part — in  the  very  nature  of  things,  I  say,  that  man  is 
not  an  angel.  But  you  have  got  to  take  him  as  he  is. 
You  have  got  to  go  to  the  source  of  natural  information. 

State's  Attorney  Frank  M.  Nye,  in  People  v.  Hayzcard, 
Minneapolis,  Dec.  iSgf,. 

ACCUSERS   AND  ACCUSATION. 

To  him  who  would  say  that  this  man  is  a  hypocrite,  I 
would  say,  as  He  said,  "  Let  him  that  is  without  sin  cast 
the  first  stone."  What  man,  even  a  preacher,  could  have 
his  life  bared  like  this  unfortunate  man,  and  none  say  to 
him,  "  Thou  hypocrite !  " 

Col  II.  C.  Jones,  in  People  v.  Holland,  Charlotte,  N. 
C.  May  14,  i8p5. 

ACCUSATION  DEFEATED. 

And  if  your  Honors  are  still  unconvinced,  regard  the 
spotless  character  of  the  man  you  judge.  It  is  an  un- 
soilcd    mantle   of    purity    wrapping  its    protecting    folds 

1 


2      MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

around  his  whole  Ufe.  An  amiable  and  accomplished 
gentleman,  endeared  to  his  friends ;  an  untarnished  mer- 
chant and  officer,  honored  by  the  world ;  an  ardent,  but 
stainless  politician,  respected  by  his  adversaries,  he  ap- 
peals to  the  congenial  instincts  of  his  judges.  Had  guilt 
been  proven,  even  his  unblemished  name  would  not  save 
him ;  but,  in  the  sometimes  subtle  entanglement  of  mali- 
cious circumstance  encompassing  the  good  man  with 
shadows,  he  may  confidently  and  proudly  point  to  his 
blameless  reputation.  I  repel  the  idea  that  there  is  an 
atom  of  proof  from  which  the  foulest  hate  can  hatch  sus- 
picion. But  if  there  were,  I  meet  it  with  an  invulnerable 
character  and  defy  its  venom.  Once,  at  least,  it  saves 
from  doubtful  circumstance.  It  can  but  once;  for  even 
defeated  accusation  leaves  its  enduring  taint.  The  mem- 
ory of  this  trial  will  cling  to  Colonel  North,  ever  supply- 
ing malice  with  its  poison.  Your  judgment  may  acquit 
him,  but  he  has  been  suspected  and  accused,  and  that, 
with  censorious  rumor,  is  guilt. 

William  A.  Beach,  in  case  of  People  v.  Samuel  North 
et  al.  (charged  with  tampering  with  soldiers'  votes)  be- 
fore a  military  commission,  Washington,  D.  C.  Feb'y, 
1865. 

A  DEMAND  OF  VERDICT  OF  ACQUITTAL. 

No,  gentlemen ;  but  I  rise  with  what  of  law,  of  con- 
science, of  justice,  and  of  constitution,  there  exists  within 
this  realm,  at  my  back,  and,  standing  in  front  of  that 
great  and  powerful  alliance,  I  demand  a  verdict  of  ac- 
quittal for  my  client. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Patrick  Finney  for  high 
treason,  Dublin,  Jan.  16,  1798. 

THE  EFFECTS  OF  AN  ACQUITTAL. 

I  know,  from  recent  experience,  that  an  acquittal,  how- 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS       3 

ever  honorable,  does  not  wipe  off  the  aspersion  which 
such  charges  cast  on  mens'  characters. 

John  P.  Ciirran,  Trial  of  Droghcda  Defenders,  Drog- 
heda,  April  23,  1794. 

ACQUITTAL  TO  BE  MADE  ON  DOUBT. 

Hear  and  weigh  the  evidence.  If  you  doubt  its  truth, 
acquit  without  hesitation.  By  the  laws  of  every  country, 
because  by  those  of  eternal  justice,  doubt  and  acquittal 
are  synonymous  terms. 

John  P.  Cur  ran.  Trial  of  Sir  Henry  Hayes,  Cork,  April 
16,  1801. 

TIME  FOR  ACTION. 

It  is  now  I  ought  to  have  strength — it  is  now  I  ought 
to  have  energy  and  voice.  But  I  have  none ;  I  am  like 
the  unfortunate  state  of  the  country — perhaps,  like  you. 
This  is  the  time  in  which  I  ought  to  speak,  if  I  can,  or  be 
dumb  for  ever;  in  which,  if  you  do  not  speak  as  you 
ought,  you  ought  to  be  dumb  for  ever. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Peter  Finneriy,  publisher  of 
the  "Press,"  (Dublin)  Dec.  22,  1797. 

ADULTERY. 

What,  then,  is  the  act  of  adultery?  It  cannot  be  limited 
to  the  fleeting  moment  of  sexual  contact ;  that  would  be 
a  mockery ;  for  then  the  adulterer  would  ever  escape. 
But  law  and  reason  mock  not  human  nature  with  any  such 
vain  absurdity.  The  act  of  adultery,  like  that  of  mur- 
der, is  supposed  to  include  every  proximate  act  in  further- 
ance of,  and  as  a  means  to,  the  consummation  of  the  wife's 
pollution.  This  is  an  established  principle  in  American 
and  English  law,  established  from  the  time  of  Lord 
Stowell,  as  will  be  hereafter  shown.  If  tlic  adulterer  be 
found  in  the  husband's  bed,  he  is  taken  in  the  act,  within 


4       MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

the  meaning  of  the  law,  as  if  he  was  found  in  the  wife's 
arms.  If  he  provide  a  place  for  the  express  purpose  of 
committing  adultery  with  another  man's  wife,  and  be 
found  leading  her,  accompanying  her,  or  following  her 
to  that  place  for  that  purpose,  he  is  taken  in  the  act.  If 
he  not  only  provides,  but  habitually  keeps  such  a  place, 
and  is  accustomed  by  preconcerted  signals  to  entice  the 
wife  from  the  husband's  house,  to  besiege  her  in  the 
streets,  to  accompany  him  to  that  vile  den ;  and  if,  after 
giving  such  preconcerted  signal,  he  be  found  watching 
her,  spy-glass  in  hand,  and  lying  in  wait  around  a  hus- 
band's house,  that  the  wife  may  join  him  for  that  guilty 
purpose,  he  is  taken  in  the  act. 

Edwin  M.  Stanton,  in  defense  of  Hon.  Daniel  E.  Sick- 
les, indicted  for  the  murder  of  Philip  Barton  Key,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  April  23,  1859. 


With  this  we  start.  It  is  the  crime  of  adultery,  Mr. 
Foreman.  It  is  an  intentional  and  deliberate  surrender 
of  the  person  unlawfully  to  another.  No  surprise  at  the 
window,  no  sudden  placing  of  the  hand  within  the  bosom, 
instantly  and  by  a  flood  of  tears  repelled,  is  adultery. 
There  must  be  some  intentional,  intelligent,  voluntary  and 
consummated  surrender  of  the  body ;  and  this  established 
by  evidence  clear  and  undoubted,  or  there  is  no  case. 

Rufus  Choate,  in  behalf  of  Helen  Maria  Dal  ton,  in  the 
D  alt  on  divorce  case^  Boston,  May,  1856. 

ADULTERY  NOT  INFERRED  FROM  OPPORTUNITY. 

They  seem  to  be  of  the  opinion  that  where  there 
is  unlawful  love  and  an  opportunity,  adultery  is  nec- 
essary as  a  sort  of  chemical  result.  Do  they  forget 
that   there   is   such   a   thing   as    free-will,    such   a   thing 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS       5 

as  conscience,  such  a  thing  as  shame,  such  a  thing  as 
a  point  at  which  to  stop  and  a  point  from  which  to  go 
back  ?  They  forget  the  inherent  virtue  that  pervades  the 
nature  of  woman.  They  forget  such  a  word  as  that. 
And  therefore  I  say  that  the  doctrine  is  old,  poor,  monk- 
ish, artificial,  and  has  never  been  adopted  in  this  State, 
and  never,  as  my  learned  brother  will  present  it  to  you, 
in  any  country ;  for  I  believe  the  work  holds  that  if 
it  turns  out  that  the  opportunity  did  not  as  a  matter  of 
fact  carry  the  parties  to  the  guilt,  there  is  an  end  of 
it.  I  contend  that  there  is  no  divorce  to  be  granted  for 
loving  or  for  having  an  opportunity,  if  the  parties  do  not 
indulge. 

Riifus  Choate,  in  Dalton  divorce  case. 

SLAYING  THE  ADULTERER  NO  CRIME  UNDER  THE 
LAW. 

There  were  four  epochs  in  which  killing  in  such  cases 
went  unpunished: — it  was  justified  under  the  Jewish  dis- 
pensation, by  the  laws  of  Solon,  by  those  of  the  Roman 
empire,  and  by  the  Gothic  institutions  which  have  given 
shape  to  our  own.  By  the  mere  force  of  frequent  repeti- 
tion in  the  books,  of  Manning's  case,  it  has  come  to  be 
believed  that  a  man  must  stand  by  the  bed  of  his  wife  and 
behold  the  adulterer  polluting  his  bed,  and  not  raise  his 
hand  against  him.  From  the  time  of  Edward  II.  to 
King  Charles — three  hundred  and  sixty  odd  years — no 
word  is  to  be  found  in  the  common  law,  no  word  imputing 
guilt  to  the  slayer  of  the  violator  of  tlic  chastity  of  his 
wife.  This  right  to  kill  was  never  denied  till  now.  There 
is  one  fact  I  have  never  before  seen  related,  except  by 
Paley,  that  by  the  laws  of  the  commonwealth,  immediately 
preceding  the  time  of  Charles,  adultery  was  punished  by 
death. 

Mk.  CAKLisLii:. — Blackstone  mentioned  it.     In  1650,  at 


6       MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

a  period  before  the  judgment  in  Manning's  case,  it  was 
punishable  by  death. 

Mr.  Stanton. — The  age  of  Charles  was  an  age  of  adul- 
tery and  gross  corruption ;  the  palace  was  filled  with  har- 
lots and  thronged  with  adulterers  and  adulteresses ;  the 
judges  were  the  panderers,  partakers  and  protectors  of 
the  corruptions  of  the  age,  and  the  same  court  which  ad- 
judged the  husband  to  be  a  felon  for  slaying  the  adulterer 
on  his  bed,  fined  and  sent  jurors  to  prison  for  refusing  to 
find  verdicts  in  accordance  with  its  instructions.  It  was 
the  same  court  which  hunted  Quakers,  Catholics  and  Non- 
conformists to  death ;  the  same  court  which  persecuted 
John  Howe  and  Richard  Baxter,  and  which  sent  to  the 
pillory  and  prison  John  Bunyan  for  preaching  the  gospel 
to  the  poor. 

Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Sickles'  Trial,  Washington,  D.  C. 
April  22,,  1859. 

WIFE'S  CONSENT  IN  ADULTERY. 

I  claim,  then,  on  this  proposition,  that  the  expression 
or  rule  of  the  common  law  in  regard  to  the  consent  of  the 
wife  had  its  origin  in  a  state  of  manners  and  of  social  life 
that  do  not  exist  in  this  country,  and  that  that  rule  is  not 
applicable  here.  It  is  founded  on  the  principle  that  the 
wife's  consent  can  qualify  the  degree  of  the  adulterer's 
guilt,  and  determines  the  husband  to  be  a  criminal.  In 
American  society,  there  is  freedom  from  restraint  and 
supervision  that  exists  nowhere  else,  and  this  results  from 
various  causes :  husbands,  fathers,  and  brothers  devote  a 
large  share  of  time  to  the  cares  of  life  and  to  the  duties 
of  providing  for  the  family,  during  which  time  the  female 
portion  of  the  family  are  left  to  themselves  without  pro- 
tection. The  frequent  changes  of  habitation  and  the  equal- 
ity of  our  social  condition  lead  to  a  frankness  of  inter- 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS       7 

course  which  requires,  for  the  sanctity  of  the  home  and 
the  security  of  the  marriage  bed,  a  rigorous  personal  re- 
sponsibility to  the  death.  The  peculiar  conditions  of  so- 
ciety in  this  District  are  also  to  be  noted  before  any  prin- 
ciple like  that  of  social  law  can  be  introduced. 

Edz<nn  M.  Stanton,  Sickles'  Trial,  Washington,  D.  C. 
April  2S,  1859. 

THE  ADVOCATE. 

The  struggles,  in  the  history  of  the  world,  to  have  in 
criminal  trials  an  honest  judiciary,  a  fearless  jury,  and  a 
faithful  advocate,  disclose  a  great  deal  of  wrong  and 
suffering  inflicted  on  advocates  silenced  by  force,  trem- 
bling at  the  bar  where  they  ought  to  be  utterly  immovable 
in  the  discharge  of  their  duty — on  juries  fined  and  im- 
prisoned, and  kept  lying  in  dungeons  for  years,  because 
they  dared,  in  State  prosecutions,  to  find  verdicts  against 
the  direction  of  the  court.  The  provisions  of  our  own 
Constitution,. which  secure  to  men  trial  by  jury  and  all  the 
rights  incident  to  that  sacred  and  invaluable  privilege,  are 
the  history  of  wrong  against  which  those  provisions  are 
intended  to  guard  in  the  future. 

James  T.  Brady,  in  defense  of  the  "  Savannah  Priva- 
teers^' indicted  for  piracy.  New  York,  Oct.,  1861. 


It  is  the  mighty  theme,  and  not  the  inconsiderable  ad- 
vocate, that  can  excite  interest  in  the  hearer. 

John  Philpot  Curran,  Trial  of  A.  H.  Rowan,  Dublin, 
Jan'y  2(j,  1794. 

DUTY  OF  AN  ADVOCATE. 

If  an  advocate  entertains  sentiments  injurious  to  the 
defense  he  is  engaged  in,  he  is  not  only  justified  but  bound 
in  duty,  to  conceal  them  ;  so,  on  the  other  hand,  if  his  own 
genuine  sentiments,  or  anything  connected  with  his  ciiar- 


8       MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

acter  or  situation,  can  add  strength  to  his  professional 
assistance,  he  is  bound  to  throw  them  into  the  scale. 

Lord  Erskine,  in  defense  of  Thomas  Paine,  tried  for 
libel.  Court  of  King's  Bench,  Guildhall,  Dec.  i8,  1792. 


Deterred  neither  by  misrepresentation  nor  unpopularity, 
the  advocate,  true  to  his  oath  and  office  in  proportion  as 
such  difficulties  surround  him,  will  rise  with  mightier 
effort  to  vindicate  by  his  courage  and  learning,  in  behalf 
of  his  client,  both  his  honor  and  his  profession. 

Chauncey  M.  Depew,  Address  before  the  Columbia 
Law  School,  May  ly,  1882. 


The  advocate  is  of  very  little  use  in  the  days  of  pros- 
perity and  peace,  in  the  periods  of  repose,  in  protecting 
your  property,  or  aiding  you  to  recover  your  rights  of  a 
civil  nature.  It  is  only  when  public  opinion,  or  the  strong 
power  of  government,  the  formidable  array  of  influence, 
the  force  of  a  nation,  or  the  fury  of  a  multitude,  is  di- 
rected against  you,  that  the  advocate  is  of  any  use. 

James  T.  Brady,  in  case  of  Savannah  Privateers. 
AGENT  AND  PRINCIPAL. 

Qui  per  alium  facit  per  seipsum  facere  videtur. 

He  who  does  an  act  through  the  medium  of  another 
party  is  in  law  considered  as  doing  it  himself. 

Respondeat  superior. 

Let  the  principal  be  held  responsible. 

ALIBI. 

The  frailest  plank  I  ever  saw,  the  weakest  reed  on  which 
to  lean  is  this  one— to  seek  an  acquittal  on  a  transposed 
roll-call  and  an  alibi  unsupported. 

District  Attorney  William  S.  Barnes,  in  People  v.  Du- 
rante San  Francisco,  Nov.  12,  1895. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS       9 

ALLEGIANCE  TO  GOVERNMENT. 

Nemo  patriam  in  qua  natus  est  exucre  nee  ligeantice 
debitum  ejurare  possit. 

A  man  cannot  abjure  his  native  country  nor  the  alle- 
giance which  he  owes  to  his  Sovereign. 

LATENT  AMBIGUITY. 

Ambiguitas  verborum  latens  verificatione  suppletur, 
nam  quod  ex  facto  oritur  ambiguum  verificatione  facti 
toUitur. 

Latent  ambiguity  may  be  supplied  by  evidence ;  for  an 
ambiguity  which  arises  by  proof  of  an  extrinsic  fact  may, 
in  the  same  manner,  be  removed. 

ANCESTRY. 

A  nation,  like  a  man,  may  grow  spare  and  threadbare 
from  leaning  against  a  family  tree.  Our  country  is  not 
what  our  fathers  made  it,  but  what  the  children  of  our 
fathers  shall  make  it. 

Professor  A.  B.  Hart,  Address  at  Boston,  Mass. 

A  PERFECT  ARGUMENT. 

To  attempt  to  add  anything  to  the  arguments  of  that 
paper,  would  be  to  attempt  to  gild  refined  gold — to  paint 
the  lily — to  throw  a  perfume  on  the  violet — to  smooth 
the  ice — or  add  another  hue  unto  the  rainbow — in  every 
aspect  of  it,  wasteful  and  ridiculous  excess. 

John  Randolph,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  1824, 
on  the  U.  S.  Bank  Bill,  and  referring  to  James  Madison's 
report  to  the  legislature  of  Virginia  denying  the  constitu- 
tional right  of  government  to  charter  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States. 

A  SUICIDAL  ARGUMENT. 

I  Jut,  sir,  1  must  still  maintain  that  the  argument  of  the 
gentleman  is  suicidal — he  has  fairly  worked  the  equation, 


10     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

and  one  half  of  his  argument  is  a  complete  and  conclusive 
answer  to  the  other. 

John  Randolph,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  April 
12,  1824,  in  reply  to  Representatii'e  McLean,  of  Delaware, 
on  the  tariff  question. 

ARGUMENTS  FORCIBLE  IN  LAW. 

Argumentum  ah  inconvenienti  plurimum  valet  in  lege. 
An  argument  drawn  from  inconvenience  is  forcible  in 
law. 

ASSIGNEES. 

Assignatus  utitur  jure  auctoris. 

The  assignee  is  clothed  with  the  rights  of  his  principal. 

ATTORNEYS  AND   THEIR   CLIENTS. 

It  is  the  privilege,  it  is  the  obligation,  of  those  who  have 
to  defend  a  client  on  a  trial  for  his  life,  to  exert  every 
force,  and  to  call  forth  every  resource,  that  zeal,  and 
genius,  and  sagacity  can  suggest.  It  is  an  indulgence  in 
favor  of  life — it  has  the  sanction  of  usage — it  has  the 
permission  of  humanity ;  and  the  man  who  should  linger 
one  single  step  behind  the  most  advanced  limit  of  that 
privilege,  and  should  fail  to  exercise  every  talent  that 
heaven  had  given  him,  in  that  defense,  would  be  guilty  of 
a  mean  desertion  of  his  duty,  and  an  abandonment  of  his 
client. 

John  P.  Ctirran,  Trial  of  Sir  Henry  Hayes,  for  abduc- 
tion of  Miss  Pike,  Cork,  April  16,  1801. 

ATTORNEYS'  DUTIES. 

I  would  have  tried  this  cause  had  no  fee  or  reward  at- 
tended it  beyond  the  consciousness  and  the  satisfaction 
which  every  lawyer  must  feel  when  he  proves  that  he  has 
the  courage  and  the  virtue  to  maintain  the  rights  of  his 
client  and  himself  against  popular  clamor,  and  despite 
the  pens  of  libelers,  whether  they  write  from  malice,  or 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     11 

only  for  a  railroad  pass,  or  for  hush-money,  or  black- 
mail. 

In  England  a  barrister,  offered  a  retainer,  who  should 
refuse  it  or  throw  up  the  case  for  fear  that  obloquy  might 
fall  on  him  for  doing  his  duty,  would  forfeit  his  prestige 
and  standing  as  a  member  of  the  bar.  If  the  retainer 
were  against  the  Crown,  and  he  should  falter,  he  would 
be  held  in  meaner  estimation  than  if  he  refused  to  appear 
against  the  humblest  peasant  in  all  the  realm. 

Roscoe  Conkling,  in  N.  Y.  Central  R.  R.  tax  case,  July, 
1874.  

The  case  and  the  topics  which  are  inseparable  from  it 
are  brought  here  by  the  prosecutor.  Here  I  find  them, 
and  here  it  is  my  duty  to  deal  with  them,  as  the  interests 
of  Mr.  Peltier  seem  to  me  to  require.  He  by  his  choice 
and  confidence,  has  cast  on  me  a  very  arduous  duty,  which 
I  could  not  decline,  and  which  I  can  still  less  betray.  He 
has  a  right  to  expect  from  me  a  faithful,  a  zealous,  and  a 
fearless  defense;  and  this,  his  just  expectation,  according 
to  the  measure  of  my  humble  abilities,  shall  be  fulfilled. 

Sir  James  Mackintosh,  in  behalf  of  Jean  Peltier,  in- 
dicted for  a  libel  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  London,  Feb'y 
21.  1803. 

AVARICE. 

Avarice  as  a  base  and  sordid  passion,  stands  high  in 
the  dark  catalogue  of  man's  depravity.  Like  jealousy, 
it  "  makes  the  meat  it  feeds  on ;  "  like  the  kine  of  Pha- 
raoh's vision,  the  more  it  consumes  the  more  lean  and  hun- 
gry it  becomes.  Unlike  all  other  propensities,  it  seeks  no 
intervals  of  abstinence  to  edge  the  appetite ;  it  chills  and 
withers  the  social  affections  of  the  heart,  and  freezes  the 
"  genial  current  of  the  soul." 

Daniel  S.  J)ickinson.  on  the  Repeal  of  the  Usury  Lazvs, 
New  York  Senate,  Feb'y  10,  1837. 


12     IMANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

AVARICE  AND  CRIME. 

We  are  all  wicked.  We  are  all  wickeder  than  we  dare 
to  own.  We  are  all  susceptible  to  the  love  of  money. 
And  what  is  there  so  common  in  the  weakness  of  human- 
ity as  to  take  the  poor  man,  the  plodder,  the  doUar-and-a- 
quarter  or  the  dollar-and-a-half-a-day  man,  who  works 
twelve  or  eighteen  hours  a  day,  when  the  serpent  of 
avarice  and  deception  shall  enter  his  quiet  nest,  and  tell 
him  that  money  can  be  made  easier,  that  he  is  foolish? 
How  natural  and  how  easy  it  is  for  men  to  listen  to  these 
things. 

State's  Attorney  Frank  M.  Nye,  at  Minneapolis,  in 
People  V.  Hayzvard,  Dec,  1895. 

BELIEF  AND  KNO^VLEDGE. 

You  and  I  believe  in  the  great  and  merciful  Father  in 
heaven,  the  creator  of  the  boundless  universe,  yet  we  have 
not  seen  Him,  nor  hath  any  man  and  lived.  We  believe 
that  the  blessed  Savior  walked  the  hills  and  plains  of 
Judea,  and  died  to  redeem  the  souls  of  men,  but  our  eyes 
did  not  behold  the  majesty  of  His  face,  nor  our  ears 
drink  in  the  deep  and  melancholy  music  of  His  voice. 
We  believe  because  we  have  faith  in  the  sources  of  our 
information.  We  have  been  told,  that  is  all.  The  testi- 
mony of  the  ages  is  ours.  .  .  .  The  history  of  the 
whole  human  race  forces  us  to  exclaim,  "  How  little  is 
known,  and  how  much  is  believed."  The  world  of  faith 
is  wide,  the  world  of  knowledge  is  narrow.  What  we 
think  we  know  best  depends  mainly  upon  the  credibility 
of  those  who  have  narrated  to  us  the  facts. 

Daniel  IV.  Voorhccs,  in  defense  of  H.  C.  Black,  Fred- 
erick City,  Md.,  April  23,  1871. 

BIGOTRY  OF  PROTESTANTS. 

Are  you  to  find  your  verdict  upon  the  bigotry  of  ancient 
Protestantism  ?     Search  your  minds  with  care,  jurors,  and 


iVIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     13 

find  out  if  you  are  not  asked  to  assume  or  presume  some- 
thing with  regard  to  a  Catholic  priest,  which  you  would 
not  assume  with  regard  to  a  Protestant  clergyman.  You 
have  a  right  to  say  to  the  District  Attorney  of  this  county  : 
"  Stand  back,  sir."  And  say  :  "  Do  not  ask  me  to  fall  back 
upon  the  bugbear  of  my  early  instruction  and  say  that  a 
Catholic  must  be  guilty."  ...  I  know  what  Protest- 
ant bigotry  is.  I  full  well  know  the  ideas  instilled  into 
the  minds  of  young  Protestants,  for  I  was  brought  up 
under  the  eaves  of  a  Protestant  Church  and  my  father 
was  a  minister.  YOU  know  what  was  preached  to  you 
when  you  were  young  ones. 

George  Raines,  for  defendant  in  People  v.  Cronin,  at 
Rochester,  Dec.  20,  1895. 

BOY  OR  MAN. 

This  boy  !  When  does  a  boy  become  a  man  ?  Is  it  by 
years,  experience,  or  the  manner  of  life  he  has  led?  The 
law  fixes  a  time  when  a  man  may  become  a  criminal  and 
be  held  responsible  for  crime,  and  that  is  when  he  is  four- 
teen years  old  ;  not  thirty-three  and  not  thirty-nine.  He 
is  supposed  then  to  know  the  consequence  of  his  act,  and 
knowing  it  he  is  held  responsible  for  it. 

U.  S.  District  Attorney  Frank  B.  Burke,  for  prosecu- 
tion in  People  v.  Haitghey,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

BROTHER   AND    SISTER. 

The  i>ride  and  glory  of  the  family  is  its  band  of  brothers 
and  sisters.  Sprung  from  the  same  love,  with  the  same 
blood  coursing  in  their  veins,  their  hearts  are  bound 
together  by  a  cord  which  death  cannot  sever ;  for,  wide 
asunder  as  may  be  the  graves  of  a  household,  varied  as 
may  be  their  life  here  on  earth,  when  life's  rough  ocean 
is  passed,  .sooner  or  later  they  will  rejoice  on  the  heavenly 
coast — a  family  in  heaven.     But  when  the  adulterer  puts 


14     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

a  young  wife  asunder  from  her  husband,  her  child  is  cut 
ofif  from  all  kindred  fellowship.  The  companionship  and 
protection  of  a  brother  .of  the  same  blood  can  never  be 
hers.  No  sister  of  the  same  blood  can  ever  share  her 
sorrow  or  her  joy.  Alone,  thenceforth,  she  must  journey 
through  life,  bowed  down  with  a  mother's  shame.  Nor 
does  the  evil  stop  here.  It  reaches  up  to  the  aged  and 
venerable  parents  of  the  wretched  husband  and  of  the 
ruined  wife,  and  stretches  around  to  the  circle  of  rela- 
tives and  friends  that  cluster  around  every  hearth. 
Edwin  M.  Stanton,  in  Sickles'  Trial. 

BURDEN  OF  PROOF  IN  CRIMINAL  CASE. 

The  burden  is  upon  the  State  to  satisfy  you  beyond  all 
reasonable  doubt  of  the  guilt  of  the  accused — he  is  not 
called  upon  to  establish  his  innocence.  It  is  not  enough 
that  the  State  has  raised  suspicion ;  it  is  not  enough  that 
there  is  a  mystery.  The  State  cannot  ask  for  a  conviction 
upon  a  mystery ;  the  State  can  only  ask  a  conviction,  when 
it  has  dispelled  all  mystery  and  established  his  guilt 
beyond  a  reasonable  doubt. 

Charles  IV.  Smith,  for  defense  in  People  v.  Hinshaw, 
Danville,  Ind.,  Sept.  14,  1895. 

BURDEN   SUSTAINED  BT  BENEFITS. 

Qui  sentit  commodiim  sentire  debet  et  onus. 

He  who  derives  advantage  ought  to  sustain  the  burden. 

MODERN  BANK  BURGLARY. 

The  charge  against  this  defendant  is  not  that  he  entered 
the  Indianapolis  National  Bank  in  the  night  time,  that  he 
used  force  to  open  the  doors  that  secured  and  concealed 
its  credits  and  assets ;  not  that  in  the  role  that  he  played 
he  was  less  an  enemy  to  society,  less  an  enemy  to  the 
security  of  property — but  that  he  aided  in  the  modern  way 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     15 

of  burglarizing  a  bank  as  much  as  if  he  had  stood  upon 
the  corner  at  the  dead  hour  of  midnight  to  sound  the 
alarm  to  his  partners  in  crime  who  were  working  their 
way  to  the  contents  of  that  bank,  should  an  officer  of  the 
law  approach  to  disturb  them. 

Men  in  early  times,  to  secure  wealth,  to  secure  the  prop- 
erty of  others,  banded  themselves  together  as  robbers  and 
brigands.  They  were  pursued  as  outlaws  and  a  price  was 
fixed  upon  their  heads.  In  the  advancement  of  society, 
the  development  of  civilization  and  the  better  safeguard- 
ing of  treasure,  there  came  into  existence  burglars  who, 
in  the  night-time  or  in  the  day-time,  by  force  and  steel 
and  power,  drilled  their  way  into  the  banks  or  the  safety 
deposits  of  the  country,  and  carried  away  the  wealth  that 
was  therein.  These  men  took  their  lives  in  their  hands. 
They  laid  their  lives  upon  the  altar  of  their  profit.  But 
to-day,  what  was  highway  robbery  and  burglary  before, 
becomes,  perchance,  an  exchange  of  credits,  a  bridging 
over  of  chasms  of  adversity,  though  the  result  in  all  cases 
is  the  same.     This  is  a  crime  long  upon  the  statute  books. 

U.  S.  District  Attorney  Frank  B.  Burke,  for  prosecu- 
tion in  People  v.  Haiighey,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

A  PERFECT  CASE. 

So,  here  have  you  to  combine  and  place  in  due  order  the 
testimony  in  the  case  intrusted  to  your  keeping.  Wit- 
nesses have  brought  to  you  their  facts,  their  observation, 
their  experience.  Separated  facts,  each  of  no  great  signifi- 
cance in  itself,  arc  borne  to  you  by  many  persons.  The 
structure  you  are  building  depends  upon  the  truthfulness, 
the  discernment,  the  motives  of  no  one  man  or  woman. 
Each  part  fits  with  its  companion  part  without  doubt, 
hesitancy  or  jar.  Slowly  has  (liis  monument  of  patient 
investigation   and   tireless   search   been    rising,'  each   day 


16     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

stronger,  each  day  more  irresistible,  as  it  has  neared 
completion.  There  is  weakness  nowhere.  There  is  on 
every  side  and  at  all  heights  that  abiding  conviction,  that 
moral  certainty  which  the  law  says  must  bind  together 
and  cement  the  entire  frame  and  substance  of  the  case, 
and  brings  the  candid  and  honest  mind  to  the  conclusion 
that  this  defendant,  and  none  other,  was  the  slayer  of 
Blanche  Lamont.  The  structure  which  has  thus  been 
builded,  cemented  with  a  mass  of  indisputable  facts  con- 
sistent with  his  guilt,  and  absolutely  inconsistent  with  any 
reasonable  hypothesis  of  his  innocence,  is  now  before  you. 
It  is  for  you  to  finish  it.  Will  you  crown  it  with  the  sub- 
lime form  of  justice,  robed  in  her  garb  of  law,  her  fore- 
head bound  with  the  lambent  purity  of  truth's  white 
diadem,  and  in  her  hand  the  flaming  sword  which  pun- 
ishes the  doer  of  unutterable  sin ;  or  will  you  leave  it  to 
the  usurpation  of  an  incarnate  hell,  to  a  grinning  and  de- 
riding fiend,  mocking  at  the  paralysis  of  human  intelli- 
gence, and  hugging  to  his  devil's  breast  the  crime  of  this 
dreadful  murder,  perpetrated  under  the  shelter  of  a  church 
of  God,  and  saturated  with  unspeakable  and  measureless 
depravity  ? 

Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  so  far  as  the  People  of  the  State 
of  California  are  concerned  in  the  exposition  of  this  most 
tragic  story,  the  case  is  with  you. 

District  Attorney  Williani  S.  Barnes,  in  People  i>.  Du- 
rante San  Francisco,  Noi'.  12,  1895. 

PREPARATION  OF  A  CASE. 

If  the  court  please,  I  have  endeavored  to  give  to  this 
case  such  labor  and  care  as  its  inherent  importance,  and 
the  attention  which  was  accorded  it  by  the  court,  de- 
manded. I  have  made  what  research  I  could  to  discover 
the  law  that  was  applicable.     So  far  as  the  facts  in  the 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     17 

case  were  concerned,  I  have  been  compelled  by  force  of 
old  habits  to  wait  until  the  trial  was  had,  and  the  testi- 
mony developed  from  the  witness  stand. 

Frederick  W.  Lehman,  in  Pulitzer  v.  Jones,  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  Jan.  i6,  1896. 

THE  IMMEDIATE  CAUSE  IN  LAW. 

In  jure,  nan  remota  causa,  sed  pro.vinm  spectator. 
In  law  the  immediate,  not  the  remote,  cause  of  any 
event  is  regarded. 

CERTAINTY  IN  LAW^. 

Certum  est  quod  certum  reddi  potest. 

That  is  sufificiently  certain  which  can  be  made  certain. 

TRUE  AND  LEGAL  CERTAINTY. 

Nimia  siibtHitas  in  jure  reprobatur,  et  talis  certitudo 
certitudinem  confundit. 

The  law  does  not  allow  of  captious  and  strained  in- 
tendment, for  such  nice  pretence  of  certainty  confounds 
true  and  legal  certainty. 

CHALLENGES. 

But  when  men  are  deadly  foes,  w'hen  their  hostility  is 
open  and  proclaimed,  when  uni)ardonable  wrongs  have 
been  given  and  received,  when  their  blood  is  full  of  wrath, 
when  the  insultcr  is  armed  with  weapons  of  death — then 
the  intentional  touch  in  passing  is  a  threat,  and  a  challenge 
of  the  deepest  and  most  sinister  import. 

Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  Harry  C.  Black. 

CHALLENGES  FOR  FAVOR. 

Favor  is  not  cause  of  principal  challenge,  which,  if  put 
upon  a  pleading,  would  conclude  the  party.  Favor  is  that 
which  makes  the  man,  in  vulgar  parlance,  unfit  to  try  the 
question. 

John  P.  Cnrran,  Trial  of  A.  IL  Rowan,  Jan.  29,  1794. 


18     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

CHANGES. 

There  have  been  changes,  too,  among  the  unfortunate 
men  whom  I  have  defended.  The  sound  of  the  hammer 
has  died  away  in  the  workshops  of  some;  the  harvests 
have  ripened  and  wasted  in  the  fields  of  others.  Want, 
and  fear  and  sorrow  have  entered  into  all  their  dwellings. 
Their  own  rugged  forms  have  drooped,  their  sunburnt 
brows  blanched,  and  their  hands  have  become  soft  to  the 
pressure  of  friendship  as  3'ours  or  mine.  One  of  them — a 
vagrant  boy — whom  I  found  imprisoned  here  for  a  few 
extravagant  words,  that,  perhaps,  he  never  uttered,  has 
pined  away  and  died.  Another,  he  who  was  feared,  hated 
and  loved  most  of  all,  has  fallen  in  the  vigor  of  life, 
"  hacked  down,  his  thick,  summer  leaves  all  faded." 

William  H.  Seward,  in  Conspiracy  Case,  Detroit,  Mich., 
Sept.,  1851. 

CHARACTER. 

When  Prometheus  was  chained  to  the  rock,  it  was  a 
vulture  and  not  an  eagle  that  struck  him. 

Alfred  P.  Thorn,  in  Massey  v.  Pilot,  Norfolk,  Va., 
June  2^,  1895. 


Every  defendant  is  presumed  to  have  a  good  character, 
and  so  long  as  he  puts  in  no  evidence  on  the  subject,  the 
prosecution  cannot  attack  him. 

George  Raines,  in  People  v.  ChatHeld,  Rochester, 
N.  v.,  Feh'y  28,  1896. 


They  do  not  reflect  that  every  character  has  a  natural 
station,  from  which  it  cannot  be  effectually  degraded,  and 
beyond  which  it  cannot  be  raised  by  the  bawling  of  a 
news-hawker.  If  it  is  wantonly  aspersed,  it  is  but  for 
a  season,  and  that  a  short  one,  when  it  emerges,  like  the 


IVIAXUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     19 

moon  from  a  passing  cloud,  to  its  original  brightness.  It 
it  right,  however,  that  the  law,  and  that  you,  should  hold 
the  strictest  hand  over  this  kind  of  public  animadversion, 
that  forces  humility  and  innocence  from  their  retreat  into 
the  glare  of  public  view ;  that  wounds  and  terrifies,  that 
destroys  the  cordiality  and  the  peace  of  domestic  life,  and 
that,  without  eradicating  a  single  vice,  or  single  folly, 
plants  a  thousand  thorns  in  the  human  heart. 

John  P.  Ctirran,  Trial  of  Peter  Finnerty,  Dec.  22,  1797. 


It  is  true  that  up  to  that  time  he  was  a  man  of  good 
character,  but,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  while  good  charac- 
ter may  be  taken  into  consideration  when  determining 
whether  a  man  has  been  guilty  of  murder  or  not,  it  will 
not  save  the  defendant  in  this  case.  Many  a  man  of  good 
character  has  committed  crime  before  this.  Professor 
Webster,  who  killed  Professor  Parkman,  a  historic  case, 
was  a  man  of  irreproachable  character  up  to  the  time  of 
the  murder,  yet  he  was  hanged  for  it.  Pettit,  the  wife 
murderer,  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  who  was  sent  to  the 
penitentiary  for  life  for  murdering  his  wife,  up  to  the 
time  of  that  direful  murder  had  been  a  man  of  good  char- 
acter and  had  proved  it. 

Henry  iV.  Spaan,  for  prosecution  in  People  v.  William 
E.  Hinshaiv,  for  the  murder  of  his  wife,  Danville,  Ind., 
Oct.  I,  1895. 

Good  character  rests  on  what  you  have  done,  not  what 
you  say  you  are  going  to  do.  Good  character  rests  ujjon 
a  fulfilment,  not  a  promise.  It  rests  on  a  specie  basis. 
Into  that  grand  edifice  that  you  call  character  goes  every 
good  and  splcnrlid  iV-i^i]  f)f  your  life. 

Robert  C.  Ingcrsoll,  Speech  in  Indianapulis,  Sept.  21, 
1876. 


W     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

But  man  is  known  to  be  a  selfish  as  well  as  a  social 
being.  Respect  for  character  though  often  a  salutary 
restraint,  is  but  too  often  overruled  by  other  motives. 
.  .  .  When  numbers  of  men  act  in  a  body,  respect  for 
character  is  often  lost,  just  in  proportion  as  it  is  necessary 
to  control  what  is  not  right. 

James  Madison,  Speech  in  the  Virginia  State  Conven- 
tion, Dec.  2,  1829. 


Then,  at  the  very  threshold  of  this  case,  you  are  to 
answer  this  question :  Can  a  young  and  generous  mind, 
wholly  uncontaminated  with  vice,  unsullied  and  unstained 
by  contact  with  the  evil  practices  of  life,  without  previous 
training  even  in  the  contemplation  of  crime,  at  once,  while 
in  a  healthy  state,  in  the  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  all  its 
faculties,  incur  that  awful  grade  of  guilt  at  which  civil- 
ized human  nature  in  all  ages  stands  aghast  ?  Is  it  within 
your  experience  that  the  soil  of  virtue  bears  spontaneously 
the  hideous  fruits  of  vice?  Are  there  no  gradations  in 
human  character  and  conduct?  Where  is  the  hardened 
criminal  who  ever  ascended  the  gibbet  in  expiation  of  his 
ofifenses  who  has  not  marked  his  downfall  from  small 
beginnings,  increasing  gradually  and  swelling  in  volume 
until  he  was  hurled  onward  to  the  commission  of  gigantic 
crimes  for  which  the  law  claimed  his  life  as  forfeit?  And 
yet  you  are  called  on  to  believe  that  this  defendant,  at  one 
single  bound,  sprang  from  the  paths  of  virtue,  gentleness 
and  purity,  without  any  intervening  preparation,  to  the 
highest  and  most  revolting  grade  of  guilt  and  ferocity 
known  to  human  society. 

Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  Trial  of  Mary  Harris  for  the 
murder  of  A.  J.  Burroughs,  Washington,  D.  C,  July, 
1865. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     21 

CHARACTERS  COMPARED. 

Let  us  put  the  case  between  Burr  and  Blennerhassett. 
Let  us  compare  the  two  men  and  settle  this  question  of 
precedence  between  them.  It  may  save  a  good  deal  of 
troublesome  ceremony  hereafter. 

Who  Aaron  Burr  is,  we  have  seen  in  part  already.  I 
will  add,  that,  beginning  his  operations  in  New  York,  he 
associates  with  him  men  whose  wealth  is  to  supply  the 
necessary  funds.  Possessed  of  the  mainspring,  his  per- 
sonal labor  contrives  all  the  machinery.  Pervading  the 
continent  from  New  York  to  New  Orleans,  he  draws  into 
his  plan,  by  every  allurement  which  he  can  contrive,  men 
of  all  ranks  and  descriptions.  To  youthful  ardor  he  pre- 
sents danger  and  glory ;  to  ambition,  ranks,  and  titles, 
and  honors;  to  avarice,  the  mines  of  Mexico.  To  each 
person  whom  he  addresses  he  presents  the  object  adapted 
to  his  taste.  His  recruiting  officers  are  appointed.  Men 
are  engaged  throughout  the  continent.  Civil  life  is  in- 
deed quiet  upon  its  surface,  but  in  its  bosom  this  man  has 
contrived  to  deposit  the  materials,  which,  with  the  slight- 
est touch  of  his  match,  produce  an  explosion  to  shake  the 
continent.  All  this,  his  restless  ambition  has  contrived ; 
and  in  the  autumn  of  1806  he  goes  forth  for  the  last  time 
to  apply  his  match.  On  this  occasion  he  meets  with 
Blennerhassett. 

Who  is  Blennerhassett  ?  A  native  of  Ireland,  a  man  of 
letters  who  fled  from  the  storms  of  his  own  country  to 
find  quiet  in  ours.  ITis  history  shows  that  war  is  not 
the  natural  element  of  his  mind.  If  it  had  been,  he  never 
would  have  exchanged  Ireland  for  America.  So  far  is 
an  army  from  furnishing  the  society  natural  and  proper 
to  Mr.  Blennerhassett's  character,  that  on  his  arrival  in 
America,  he  retired  even  from  the  population  of  the  At- 
lantic States,  and  sought  quiet  and  solitude  in  the  bosom 


22     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

of  our  western  forests.  But  he  carried  with  him  taste 
and  science,  and  wealth ;  and  lo,  the  desert  smiled.  Pos- 
sessing himself  of  a  beautiful  island  in  the  Ohio,  he  rears 
upon  it  a  palace,  and  decorates  it  with  every  romantic 
embellishment  of  fancy.     .     .     . 

Yet  this  unfortunate  man  thus  deluded  from  his  in- 
terest and  his  happiness,  thus  seduced  from  the  paths  of 
innocence  and  peace,  thus  confounded  in  the  toils  that 
were  deliberately  spread  for  him,  and  overwhelmed  by 
the  mastering  spirit  and  genius  of  another — this  man, 
thus  ruined  and  undone,  and  made  to  play  a  subordinate 
part  in  this  grand  drama  of  guilt  and  treason — this  man 
is  to  be  called  the  principal  offender,  while  he,  by  whom 
he  was  thus  pfunged  in  misery,  is  comparatively  innocent, 
a  mere  accessory.  Is  this  reason?  Is  it  law?  Is  it 
humanity?  Sir,  neither  the  human  heart  nor  the  human 
understanding  will  bear  a  perversion  so  monstrous  and 
absurd  !  so  shocking  to  the  soul !  so  revolting  to  reason  ! 
Let  Aaron  Burr  then  not  shrink  from  the  high  destination 
which  he  has  courted,  and  having  already  ruined  Blen- 
nerhassett  in  fortune,  character  and  happiness  forever,  let 
him  not  attempt  to  finish  the  tragedy  by  thrusting  that 
ill-fated  arm  between  him  and  punishment. 

William  Wirt,  Trial  of  Aaron  Burr  for  treason,  etc., 
at  Richmond,  Va.,  August,  1807. 

CHARITY. 

Charity  is  the  paramount  virtue ;  all  else  is  a  sounding 
brass  and  a  tinkling  cymbal.  Charity  suffereth  long  and 
is  kind.  Forbid  it  not  to  come  into  your  deliberations ; 
and,  when  your  last  hour  comes,  the  memory  that  you 
allowed  it  to  plead  for  your  erring  brother,  John  E.  Cook, 
will  brighten  your  passage  over  the  dark  river  and  rise  by 
your  side  as  an  interceding  angel  in  that  day  when  your 


^lANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     23 

trial,  as  well  as  his,  shall  be  determined  by  a  just  and 
merciful  God. 

Daniel  IV.  Voorhees,  in  behalf  of  John  E.  Cook, 
Charlestown,  Va.,  Nov.  8,  1859. 

CHILDREN  AS  JUDGES  OF  AFFECTION. 

With  children  everywhere  he  has  been  a  favorite ;  and 
since  little  children  crept  upon  the  knee  of  the  Saviour 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  they  have  been  the  most  in- 
fallible judges  of  a  gentle  and  affectionate  heart.  Amia- 
bility and  sweetness  of  temper  he  has  carried  with  him 
through  the  world ;  and  he  brings  that  trait  now  before 
you  to  show  that  strong  inducements  and  powerful  in- 
centives must  have  been  brought  to  bear  in  order  to 
engage  him  in  an  enterprise  so  desperate  as  that  for  which 
his  life  is  now  so  sadly  imperiled.  What  motive  con- 
trolled him  to  this  action  ?  A  crime  without  a  motive 
cannot  exist. 

Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  in  behalf  of  John  E.  Cook, 
Charlestown,  Va.,  Nov.  8,  1859. 

CIRCUMSTANCES. 

This  case,  in  order  to  embrace  all  its  horrible  relations, 
ought  to  be  decided  in  a  long  boat,  hundreds  of  leagues 
from  shore,  loaded  to  the  very  gunwale  with  forty-two 
half  naked  victims ;  with  provisions  only  sufficient  to 
prolong  the  agonies  of  famine  and  of  thirst ;  with  all  the 
elements  combined  against  her;  leaking  from  below,  fill- 
ing also  from  above ;  surrounded  by  ice,  unmanageable 
from  her  condition,  and  subject  to  destruction  from  the 
least  change  of  the  wind  and  the  waves — the  most  varia- 
ble and  most  terrible  of  all  the  elements.  Decided  at 
such  a  tribunal,  nature — intuition — would  at  once  pro- 
nounce a  verdict,  not  only  of  acquittal,  but  of  commenda- 
tion.    The  prisoner  might,  it  is  true,  obtain  no  outward 


24     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

atonement  for  nine  months  of  suffering  and  of  obloquy; 
but  he  would  at  least  enjoy  the  satisfaction  always  to  be 
derived  from  a  consciousness  of  rectitude,  in  which  the 
better  part  of  the  world  sympathizes,  and  in  which  it  con- 
fides. 

David  Paul  Brown,  in  defense  of  Alexander  William 
Holmes  (indicted  for  manslaughter  on  the  high  seas), 
Philadelphia,  April,  1842. 

CIRCUMSTANTIAL  EVIDENCE. 

Circumstantial  evidence  is  not  to  be  tested  by  the 
strongest  circumstance  in  it,  but  the  courts  have  held 
over  and  over  again  that  it  must  be  tested  by  the  weakest 
link  in  the  chain. 

Edgar  N.  Wilson  for  defense,  in  People  v.  Marks,  Syra- 
cuse, N.  v.,  July  16,  1895. 


Where  a  witness  swears  glibly  to  a  number  of  circum- 
stances, where  it  is  impossible  to  produce  contradictory 
proof,  and  is  found  to  fail  in  one,  it  shall  overthrow  all 
the  others. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Rev.  Wm.  Jackson,  Dublin, 
April  23,  1795. 


The  burden  of  proof  is  on  the  People,  and  their  evi- 
dence is  circumstantial,  say  our  friends.  True.  But  not 
one  day  of  your  lives  do  you  live  without  relying  on  cir- 
cumstantial evidence.  You  cannot  walk  a  block  without 
meeting  circumstantial  evidence  in  common  affairs.  You 
got  up  yesterday  morning,  and  saw  snow.  It  was  snow 
as  surely  as  if  you  had  seen  it  fall.  You  know  it  fell.  It 
is  here  as  a  fact.  You  may  see  on  it  the  track  of  a  cat. 
You  know  that  a  cat  has  crossed  in  that  direction.     A 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     25 

man  drives  up  with  a  horse  covered  with  foam.  You  say 
he  has  been  driven  rapidly.  You  see  he  is  shod.  It  is 
the  work  of  a  man.  You  did  not  see  the  shoe  nailed  on. 
This  evidence  is  all  circumstantial.  An  able  author  has 
written  a  book  citing  eleven  hundred  strange  cases  of 
conviction  on  circumstantial  evidence,  and  one — only  one 
— wrongfully  convicted. 

G.  V.  N.  Lothrop,  Trial  of  George  Vanderpool  for  the 
murder  of  Ids  partner,  Herbert  Field,  Manistee,  Mich., 
Jan'y,  1870. 

CLIENT  AND   ADVOCATE. 

As  well  might  you,  if  called  on  to  give  compensation 
to  a  man  for  the  murder  of  his  dearest  friend,  to  find  the 
measure  of  his  injury  by  weighing  the  ashes  of  the  dead. 
But  it  is  not,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  by  weighing  the  ashes 
of  the  dead  that  you  would  estimate  the  loss  of  the  sur- 
vivor. 

John  P.  Ctirran,  in  case  of  Massy  v.  Hcadfort,  Ennis 
Summer  Assizes,  Ire.,  July  2y,  1804. 

COINCIDENCES. 

Were  all  these  arrangements  coincidences,  or  were  they 
purposeful  ?  W^ere  they  not  part  of  one  structure,  stones 
of  one  building,  the  outlines  of  which  spelled  "  murder?  " 

Mr.  Osier,  Prosecutor  in  People  v.  Hymans,  Toronto, 
Canada,  Nov.  28,  1895. 

CONFESSIONS. 

The  evidence  of  confession  may  sometimes  be  the  high- 
est and  most  satisfactory  in  a  judicial  investigation;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  may  be,  according  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  the  most  worthless  by  which  human 
rights  are  ever  brought  in  peril  in  a  court  of  law.  .  .  . 
Is  there  not  extreme  danger  that  the  extent  and  nature 


26     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

of  the  confession,  which  is  insisted  upon,  will  be  ex- 
aggerated and  colored  when  it  comes  to  be  reported  to 
you  by  parties  with  a  disposition  and  temper  to  report  un- 
favorably. Helen  Dalton  did  not  stand  in  a  position  in 
which  she  could  deny  all  impropriety  and  all  guilt;  on 
the  contrary  her  case  is — and  it  has  this  affecting  and 
this  important  peculiarity — that  she  had  much  wrong  to 
confess,  that  she  had  much  guilt  to  own,  that  she  had 
many  temptations  to  acknowledge,  that  she  had  much  sin' 
to  pray  God  and  her  husband  to  forgive ;  therefore,  when 
she  is  making  confessions  to  this  extent,  is  there  not 
danger  the  most  extreme,  unless  we  can  place  the  most 
undoubted  reliance  on  the  kind  of  testimony  and  the  char- 
acter of  witnesses  by  whom  it  comes  to  be  reported  to 
us,  that  it  will  come  exaggerated,  and  misconceived  and 
overrated,  perilously  and  fatally,  at  the  cost  of  truth  ? 
Riifiis  Choate,  in  Dalton  divorce  case. 

DOUBTS   ARISING  FROM   CONFESSIONS. 

Gentlemen,  if  we  can  feel  undoubted  confidence  that  the 
exact  words  of  the  speaker  are  brought  before  us  as  they 
were  uttered ;  if  we  can  feel  undoubted  confidence  that 
we  have  them  all  in  their  proper  order  and  according  to 
their  sense  and  meaning  as  they  were  spoken ;  if  we  can 
feel  undoubted  confidence  that  nothing  has  been  omitted, 
nothing  has  been  colored,  the  right  collocation  has  been 
pursued  from  first  to  last,  and  that  the  true  substantial 
sense  and  effect,  as  it  was  intended  when  they  were 
uttered,  has  been  given,  we  may  then,  with  great  confi- 
dence and  certainty,  proceed  to  the  most  solemn  of  ad- 
jurations. But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  reason  to 
fear  that  the  words  themselves  may  have  been  imperfectly 
heard ;  if  they  come  reported  to  us  by  untrustworthy 
and  unreliable  witnesses;    if  they  are  testified  to  by  per- 


IMANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     27 

sons  under  strong  temptation  to  color,  to  exaggerate,  to 
forget,  to  drop  the  appropriate  qualifications,  to  change 
the  order  of  them  as  they  are  spoken ;  if  they  come  before 
us  under  such  circumstances  as  these,  gentlemen,  there  is 
no  weaker  or  more  worthless  or  more  pernicious  de- 
scription of  proof  on  which  an  intelligent  jury  are  called 
upon  to  investigate  a  case. 
Ruftis  Choate  in  Dal  ton  divorce  case. 

CONFIDENCE. 

Confidence  is  a  plant  of  slow  growth  in  an  aged  bosom, 
youth  is  the  season  of  credulity ;  by  comparing  events 
with  each  other,  reasoning  from  effects  to  causes,  me- 
thinks  I  plainly  discover  the  traces  of  an  overruling  in- 
fluence. 

IVilliam  Pitt,  Speech  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  the 
right  of  taxing  America — 1766. 

CONSCIENCE. 

Lad}'  2\lacbeth  must  needs  walk  by  night  in  her  sleep 
and  rub  her  hands  as  if  to  wash  them,  and  cry  out,  "  Out, 
damned  spot,  out  I  say !  "  But  all  Neptune's  ocean  will 
not  wash  the  stain  away;  all  the  perfumes  of  Arabia  will 
not  sweeten  the  murderer's  hand.  Conscience,  the  great- 
est gift  of  God,  the  child  itself  of  God,  working  and 
acting  obedient  to  the  same  law  by  which  your  system 
and  mine,  by  their  nature  will  attempt  to  throw  off  dis- 
ease, that  which  is  imperfect  and  that  which  is  poison,  I 
say  by  that  same  law  conscience  seeks  to  throw  off  its 
load  of  guilt. 

State's  Attorney  Frank  M.  Nye,  in  People  v.  Hayward, 
Minneapolis,  Minn.,  Dec,  1895. 


We  all  know  thai  conscience  is  not  a  sufficient  safe- 
guard ;  and  besides,  that  conscience  itself  may  be  deluded, 


28     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

may  be  misled  by  an  unconscious  bias,  into  acts  which  an 
enlig-htened  conscience  would  forbid. 

James  Madison,  Speech  in  Virginia  State  Convention, 
Dec.  2,  1829. 

THE  CONVENIENCE  OF  CONSCIENCE. 

It  was  the  most  convenient  thing  indeed  for  a  man  to 
have  a  conscience,  behind  which  he  could  shelter  himself 
from  whatever  he  did  not  like  to  face. 

Charles  James  Fox,  Speech  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
Dec.  18,  1782. 

CONSENT  IN  LAW. 

Volenti  non  fit  injuria. 

That  to  which  a  person  assents  is  not  estimated  in  law 
an  injury. 

CONSENT    UNDER    PROTEST. 

Sir,  the  consent  of  Maine  to  part  with  her  soil  and  her 
sovereignty  was  given  with  a  bleeding  heart ;  it  was  like 
the  consent  of  him  who  bares  his  own  right  arm  to  the 
surgeon's  knife  when  advised  that  his  life  can  only  be 
preserved  by  its  amputation ;  she  consented  as  one  con- 
sents to  commit  to  kindred  dust  the  children  of  his  body ; 
she  consented  as  the  red  man  consents  to  be  driven  from 
his  happy  hunting  grounds,  the  graves  of  his  fathers 
and  the  banks  of  the  streams  where  he  sported  in  child- 
hood; she  consented,  as  was  said  by  another,  as  "the 
victim  consents  to  execution  because  he  walks  and  is  not 
dragged  to  the  scaffold  which  has  been  erected  to  re- 
ceive him." 

Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  Speech  in  reply  to  Webster  on 
the  Northeastern  Boundary  question,  U.  S.  Senate,  April 
9,  1846. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     29 

CONSPIRACY. 

And  1  may  thus  exemplify  this  case :  Several  persons 
set  out  together,  or  in  small  parties,  upon  one  common  de- 
sign, be  it  murder,  or  other  felony ;  or  for  any  other 
purpose,  unlawful  in  itself;  and  each  taketh  the  part 
assigned  him :  one  to  commit  the  fact,  others  to  watch  at 
proper  stations,  to  prevent  a  surprise,  or  favor,  if  need 
be,  the  escape  of  those  who  are  more  immediately  en- 
gaged;  they  are  all  (provided  the  fact  be  committed,) 
in  the  eye  of  the  law,  present  at  it.  For  it  was  made  a 
common  cause  with  them ;  each  man  operated  in  his 
station,  at  one  and  the  same  instant,  towards  the  same 
common  end ;  and  the  part  each  man  took,  tended  to  give 
countenance,  encouragement,  and  protection,  to  the  whole 
gang,  and  to  ensure  the  success  of  their  common  enter- 
prise. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Sir  Henry  Hayes,  Cork,  April 
i6,  1801. 

THE   CONSPIRACY   TO   MURDER. 

A  conspiracy  to  kill  and  murder  does  not  owe  its 
criminality  to  the  length  of  time  it  may  occupy  in  its 
progress,  from  its  first  conception  to  its  ultimate  adoption 
■ — a  conspiracy  may  be  formed  the  very  instant  before  the 
step  is  taken  to  put  it  into  efifect.  If  a  number  of  people 
meet  accidentally  in  the  street,  and  conspire  together  to 
kill  and  murder  at  the  moment,  it  is  as  essentially  the  crime 
of  conspiracy  as  if  it  had  been  intended  for  a  year  before, 
and  hatched  for  that  year  to  the  moment  of  its  accom- 
j^lishmcnt. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  John  Costly  for  conspiracy  to 
mnrder,  Dublin,  Pch.  23,  1804. 

THE  CONSTITUTION. 

What    does    it    contain  ?     This    among    other   things : 


30     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

"  The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment, 
shall  be  by  jury." 

Judge  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  in  Supreme  Court,  Washing- 
ton, Dee.,  1866. 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Commerce,  credit,  and  confidence  were  the  principal 
things  which  did  not  exist  under  the  old  Confederation, 
and  which  it  was  a  main  object  of  the  present  Constitu- 
tion to  create  and  establish.  A  vicious  system  of  legisla- 
tion, a  system  of  paper  money  and  tender  laws,  had  com- 
pletely paralyzed  industry,  threatened  to  beggar  every 
man  of  property,  and,  ultimately,  to  ruin  the  country. 
The  relation  between  debtor  and  creditor,  always  delicate, 
and  always  dangerous  whenever  it  divides  society,  and 
draws  out  the  respective  parties  into  different  ranks  and 
classes,  was  in  such  a  condition  in  the  years  1787,  1788, 
and  1789,  as  to  threaten  the  overthrow  of  all  government; 
and  a  revolution  was  menaced,  much  more  critical  and 
alarming  than  that  through  which  the  country  had  re- 
cently passed.  The  object  of  the  new  Constitution  was 
to  arrest  these  evils ;  to  awaken  industry  by  giving  se- 
curity to  property ;  to  establish  confidence,  credit,  and 
commerce,  by  salutary  laws,  to  be  enforced  by  the  power 
of  the  whole  community.  The  Revolutionary  War  was 
over;  the  country  had  peace,  but  little  domestic  tranquil- 
lity; it  had  liberty,  but  few  of  its  enjoyments,  and  none 
of  its  security.  The  States  had  struggled  together,  but 
their  union  was  imperfect.  They  had  freedom,  but  not 
an  established  course  of  justice.  The  Constitution  was, 
therefore,  framed,  as  it  professes,  "  to  form  a  more  per- 
fect union,  to  establish  justice,  to  secure  the  blessings  of 
liberty,  and  to  insure  domestic  tranquillity." 

Daniel  Webster,  in  Ogden  v.  Saunders,  Washington, 
Jan'y,  1827. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     31 

LOSS    OF    VENERATION    FOR    THE    CONSTITUTION. 

It  has  become  fashionable  to  decry  its  merits.  We  have 
lost  our  veneration  for  the  political  parent  which  has 
nursed  and  protected  our  infancy  and  glorified  our  man- 
hood. We  have  grown  too  large  and  strong  for  consti- 
tutional restraint.  It  needs  but  the  doctrine  of  the  learned 
judge  advocate  to  disencumber  our  maddened  passions 
and  ambitions  of  all  embarrassment,  and  leave  us  to  that 
career  of  political  profligacy  which  prophesied  and  ac- 
complished the  fate  of  the  old  republics. 

Wni.  A.  Beach,  in  case  of  North  and  others. 

THE   BRITISH   CONSTITUTION. 

The  peculiarity  of  the  British  constitution  (to  which, 
in  its  fullest  extent,  we  have  an  undoubted  right,  however 
distant  we  may  be  from  the  actual  enjoyment),  and  in 
which  it  surpasses  every  known  government  in  Europe, 
is  this,  that  its  only  professed  object  is  the  general  good, 
and  its  only  foundation  the  general  will. 

John  P.  Cxirran,  Trial  of  A.  H.  Rozcan,  Jan.  29,  1794. 

THE   OBLIGATION   OF   A   CONTRACT. 

The  obligation  of  a  contract  belongs  not  to  the  civil  or 
political  code,  but  the  moral.  It  is  imposed  by  an  au- 
thority higher  than  human ;  and  can  be  discharged  by 
no  power  under  heaven  without  the  assent  of  him  to 
whom  the  obligation  is  due.  It  is  binding  on  conscience 
itself.  If  a  discharged  debtor  has  in  his  pocket  the  dis- 
charges of  every  government  on  earth,  hv  would  not  be 
an  honest  man  should  he  refuse  to  pay  his  debts,  if  ever 
in  his  power.  In  this  sense  this  Government  is  just  as 
powerless  to  discharge  a  debt  as  the  most  inconsiderable 
state  in  the  Union.  P.ut  the  subject  may  be  reviewed  in 
a  dififcrent  light.  It  may  mean  that  Government  is  not 
bound  to  give  its  aid  to  a  hard  and  gripping  creditor,  in 
the  cruel  attempt  to  coerce  the  honest  but  unfortunate 


32     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

debtor  who  has  lost  his  all,  to  pay  his  debts  when  it  is 
utterly  beyond  his  power.  Certainly  not ;  in  that  sense 
every  government  has  a  right  to  discharge  the  debt  as 
well  as  the  person.  They  both  stand  on  the  same  ground. 
John  C.  Calhoun,  Speech  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
June  2,  1840,  on  the  Bankrupt  Bill. 


We  contend  that  the  obligation  of  a  contract,  that  is, 
the  duty  of  performing  it,  is  not  created  by  the  law  of  the 
particular  place  where  it  is  made,  and  dependent  on  that 
law  for  its  existence ;  but  that  it  may  subsist,  and  does 
subsist,  without  that  law,  and  independent  of  it.  The  ob- 
ligation is  in  the  contract  itself,  in  the  assent  of  the  par- 
ties, and  in  the  sanction  of  universal  law.  This  is  the 
doctrine  of  Grotius,  \"attel,  Burlamaqui,  Pothier,  and 
Rutherforth.  The  contract,  doubtless,  is  necessarily  to 
be  enforced  by  the  municipal  law  of  the  ])lace  where  per- 
formance is  demanded.  The  municipal  law  acts  on  the 
contract  after  it  is  made,  to  compel  its  execution,  or  give 
damages  for  its  violation.  But  this  is  a  very  different 
thing  from  the  same  law  being  the  original  or  fountain 
of  the  contract. 

Let  us  illustrate  this  matter  by  an  example.  Two  per- 
sons contract  together  in  New  York  for  the  delivery,  by 
one  to  the  other,  of  a  domestic  animal,  a  utensil  of  hus- 
bandry, or  a  weapon  of  war.  This  is  a  lawful  contract, 
and,  while  the  parties  remain  in  Xew  York,  it  is  to  be  en- 
forced by  the  laws  of  that  State.  But,  if  they  remove 
with  the  article  to  Pennsylvania  or  Maryland,  there  a 
new  law  comes  to  act  upon  the  contract,  and  to  apply 
other  remedies  if  it  be  broken.  Thus  far  the  remedies 
are  furnished  by  the  laws  of  society.  But  suppose  the 
same  parties  to  go  together  to  a  savage  wilderness,  or  a 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     33 

desert  island,  beyond  the  reach  of  the  laws  of  any  society. 
The  obligation  of  the  contract  still  subsists,  and  is  as  per- 
fect as  ever,  and  is  now  to  be  enforced  by  another  law, 
that  is.  the  law  of  nature ;  and  the  party  to  whom  the 
promise  was  made  has  a  right  to  take  by  force  the  animal, 
the  utensil,  or  the  weapon  that  was  promised  him.  The 
right  is  as  perfect  here  as  it  was  in  Pennsylvania,  or  even 
in  Xew  York. 

Daniel  IVebsfer,  in  Ogden  v.  Saunders. 

CONTRACTS. 

The  definition  given  by  the  court  in  Sturges  v.  Crown- 
inshield  is  sufficient  for  our  present  purpose.  "  A  con- 
tract." say  the  court,  "  is  an  agreement  to  do  some  par- 
ticular thing ;  the  law  binds  the  party  to  perform  this 
agreement,  and  this  is  the  obligation  of  the  contract." 

Daniel  Webster,  in  Ogden  x\  Saunders. 


It  may  be  laid  down  as  an  established  rule  that,  where 
the  stronger  party  refuses  to  be  explicit,  as  in  this  case, 
the  weaker  if  it  yields  its  assent,  will  in  the  end  be  de- 
ceived and  defrauded. 

John  C.  Calhoun,  Speech  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
Aug.  12,  1849,  on  the  bill  establishing  territorial  govern- 
ment for  Oregon  and  extending  the  Missouri  compromise 
line  to  the  Pacific. 

CONTRACTS   AND   MUNICIPAL   LAW. 

The  numicii)al  law  is  the  force  of  society  employed  to 
compel  the  performance  of  contracts.  In  every  judgment 
in  a  suit  on  contract,  the  damages  are  given,  and  the  im- 
prisonment of  the  pcr.son  or  sale  of  goods  awarded,  not 
in  performance  of  the  contract,  or  as  part  of  (he  con- 
tract, but  as  an  infjemnity  for  the  breach  of  the  contract. 

Daniel  IVebsler,  in  Ogden  r.  Saunders. 


34     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

CONTRACTS   AND    SOCIETY. 

It  must  be  a  lawful  contract,  doubtless,  that  is,  per- 
mitted and  allowed ;  because  society  has  a  right  to  pro- 
hibit all  such  contracts,  as  well  as  all  such  actions  as  it 
deems  to  be  mischievous  or  injurious.  But  if  the  con- 
tract be  such  as  the  law  of  society  tolerates — in  other 
words,  if  it  be  lawful,  then,  we  say,  the  duty  of  perform- 
ing it  springs  from  universal  law.  And  this  is  the  concur- 
rent sense  of  all  the  writers  of  authority. 

Daniel  Webster,  in  Ogden  v.  Saunders. 

CONTRACTS    AND    THE   LA'W. 

Modus  et  conventio  vincunt  legem. 
The  form  of  agreement  and  the  convention  of  parties 
overrule  the  law. 

THE   DISSOLUTION    OF    CONTRACTS. 

Nihil  tarn  conveniens  est  nafiirali  ccqnitati  qtiam  itn- 
umqnodque  dissolvi  eo  ligamine  quo  ligatiim  est. 

Nothing  is  so  consonant  to  natural  equity  as  that  every 
contract  should  be  dissolved  by  the  same  means  which 
rendered  it  binding. 

CONVINCING. 

You  can  convince  a  man  without  killing  him,  but  you 
can't  kill  him  without  convincing  him. 

Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  Speech  at  Leiviston,  Me,  1880. 

SINCERE    CONVICTIONS. 

And  shall  it  ever  be  said  that  sincere  convictions  on 
these  theories  of  secession  and  of  revolution  are  entitled 
to  more  respect  than  sincere  convictions  and  opinions  on 
the  subject  of  human  rights?  Shall  it  be  said  that  faith 
in  Jefiferson  Davis  is  a  greater  protection  from  the  penalty 
of  the  law  than  faith  in  God  was  to  John  Brown  or  Fran- 
cis Ravaillac? 

William  M.  Evarts,  in  case  of  SavannaJi  Privateers. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     35 

CORPORATIONS. 

We  have  seen  an  East  India  Company  created,  which 
has  carried  dismay,  desolation  and  death  through  one  of 
the  largest  portions  of  the  habitable  world.  A  company 
which  is  in  itself  a  sovereignty — which  has  subverted  em- 
pires, and  set  up  new  dynasties,  and  has  not  only  made 
war,  but  war  against  its  legitimate  sovereign !  Under  the 
influence  of  this  power  we  have  seen  arise  a  South  Sea 
company  and  a  Mississippi  company,  that  distracted  and 
convulsed  all  Europe,  and  menaced  a  total  overthrow  of 
all  credit  and  confidence,  and  universal  bankruptcy. 

Henry  Clay,  Speech  in  the  United  States  Senate,  1811, 
on  a  National  Bank. 


But  my  brother  forgets  those  great  words,  standing 
out  in  history  ever  since  the  days  of  England's  brilliant 
jurist,  Lord  Coke :  "  Corporations  have  no  souls ;  no 
eyes  to  look  on  justice;  no  ears  to  hear  the  voice  of  wit- 
nesses ;  no  hearts  to  feel  for  suffering  humanity !  "  An 
honest  citizen  may  be  a  director  in  a  bad  corporation, 
where  the  majority  rules,  and  he  loses  his  identity  and 
becomes  a  soulless  citizen.  He  has  the  double  character — 
one  a  man,  a  tender,  loving  man,  and  one  a  hard-hearted 
corporator. 

G.  V.  N.  Lothrop,  in  May  Stephans  insurance  case, 
Detroit,  Mich.,  March,  1875. 


Among  other  things  it  is  said  that  a  corporation  has  no 
soul.  Sir,  there  is  black  letter  authority  enough  for  that. 
Rut  the  gentlemen  should  have  done  justice  to  the  ancient 
luminaries  of  the  law  and  told  further  that  they  only  in- 
tended to  say  that  a  corporation  as  such,  could  not  commit 


36     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

a  crime,  and  in  its  corporate  capacity  could  not  be  pun- 
ished as  a  criminal. 

Thomas  Corzvin,  Speech  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, April  4,  1834,  on  tJie  public  deposits. 

COUNSEL   CHARACTERIZED. 

Appeals  have  been  made  to  your  sympathies;  and  that 
is  all,  as  I  will  show.  Sympathy  !  sympathy  !  sympathy ! 
and  nothing  else,  and  with  unusual  zeal  and  eloquence. 
Good  Heaven !  Behold  what  an  array  of  counsel.  In 
Joseph  H.  Bradley  you  behold  the  Ajax  of  the  de- 
fense. In  my  friend  William  Y.  Kendall  you  behold 
the  young,  the  ardent,  the  amorous  Tydides,  not  casting 
his  javelin  at  the  Goddess  of  Love  as  she  fiies  through  the 
air  on  her  way  to  heaven,  but,  with  his  armor  off,  kneel- 
ing at  her  feet.  In  Judge  Mason  you  behold  the  sweetly 
speaking  Nestor  of  the  Grecian  camp.  In  Judge  Hughes 
the  wise,  the  prudent,  the  cautious  Ulysses.  In  the  Lion. 
Daniel  W.  Voorhees  you  behold  the  fierce,  implacable, 
irresistible  Achilles,  and  even  old  Agamemnon  (pointing 
to  the  judge  on  the  bench)  himself,  can  never  look  at  the 
gentle  sufferer  without  a  sigh  expressive  of  his  sympathy ; 
and  there  sits  the  lovely  Helen,  bathed  in  tears,  surrounded 
by  her  female  attendants,  urging  on  these  sturdy  warriors 
to  deeds  of  superhuman  valor.  Here  I  stand,  aided  only 
by  my  efficient  and  accomplished  assistant. 

U.  S.  District  Attorney  Edward  C.  Carrington,  Trial 
of  Mary  Harris,  Washington,  D.  C,  July,  1865. 

COURAGE   AND    CONSCIENCE. 

I  have  no  doubt  he  acted  with  courage  in  battle.  Many 
have  done  so,  surrounded  by  admiring  comrades,  inspired 
by  hopes  of  distinction,  who  have  faltered  in  the  face  of  a 
personal  conflict — especially  so  when  not  upheld  by  the 
consciousness  of  right.     He  who  hath  his  quarrel  just  has 


jVianual  of  forensic  quotations   37 

a  contempt  for  danger  which  the  heart  oppressed  with 
guilt  never  knows.  A  troubled  conscience  makes  many 
strange  and  devious  steps.  Many  actions  that  are  mys- 
terious to  the  world  would  be  thus  explained  if  the  secrets 
of  all  hearts  could  be  laid  bare. 

Daniel  IV.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  Harry  C.  Black, 
Frederick  City,  Md.,  April  21,  1871. 

ACTS    OF   THE    COURT. 

Actus  ciiricr  ncmincm  graz'obit. 

An  act  of  the  court  shall  prejudice  no  man. 

THE   DUTIES    OF    COURT   AND    JUDGES. 

An  inquiry  is  wished  as  to  the  most  effectual  way  of 
putting  an  end  to  the  clamors  and  libels,  which  are  the 
disorder  and  disgrace  of  the  times.  For  people  remain 
quiet — they  sleep  secure,  when  they  imagine  that  the  vigi- 
lant eye  of  a  censorial  magistrate  watches  over  all  the  pro- 
ceedings of  judicature;  and  that  the  sacred  fire  of  an 
eternal  constitutional  jealousy  which  is  the  guardian  of 
liberty,  law  and  justice,  is  alive  night  and  day,  and  burn- 
ing in  this  house.  But  when  the  magistrate  gives  up  his 
office  and  his  duty,  the  people  assume  it,  and  they  inquire 
too  much,  and  too  irreverently,  because  they  think  their 
representatives  do  not  inquire  at  all. 

Edmund  Burke,  Speech  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
March,  1771. 

THE    COURT    OF    CLAIMS. 

I'rior  to  tlu'  institution  of  this  court,  all  rights,  as 
against  the  nation,  were  im])erfect  in  the  legal  sense  of 
the  term  ;  every  duty  of  the  nation  was  a  duty  of  imper- 
fect (obligation.  There  was  no  judicial  power  ca])al)le  of 
declaring  either;  no  private  person  possessed  the  means 
of  enforcing  the  one  or  coercing  the  other.  These  rights 
may  be  deemed  still  to  remain,  in  one  sense,  imperfect ; 


136509 


38     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

for  the  decrees  of  this  court  cannot  be  carried  into  execu- 
tion by  authority  of  the  court  itself.  But  effectual  prog- 
ress has  been  made  toward  giving  form  and  method  to 
the  administration  of  justice  between  the  nation  and  the 
individual.  This  court  enables  the  latter  to  obtain  an 
authoritative  recognition  of  his  right.  No  more  is 
needed ;  for  in  no  case  can  a  State,  after  such  a  recogni- 
tion, withhold  payment  and  yet  retain  its  place  in  the  great 
family  of  civilized  nations. 

Charles  O'Conor,  for  the  claimants,  in  the  case  of  the 
Brig-of-zvar  General  Armstrong,  Washington,  D.  C, 
Nov.  27,  1855. 

THE    LAW    OF    THE    COURT. 

Cnrsus  curia;  est  lex  curiae. 

The  practice  of  the  court  is  the  law  of  the  court. 

CRIME. 

All  crime  is  irrational,  unnatural,  because  the  true  office 
of  reason  directs  men  to  pursue  their  own  welfare.  All 
crime  is  opposed  to  reason. 

John  Van  Arman,  in  Conspiracy  case,  Detroit,  Mich., 
Sept.,  1851. 

This  crime  under  consideration  is  one  of  singular  diffi- 
culty to  detect,  because  it  is  committed  in  the  dark.  In 
cases  of  this  kind  the  protection  of  society  requires  a  most 
careful  investigation.  The  elements  of  the  crime  of  arson 
in  the  first  degree  require  that  the  burning  must  have 
been  malicious  and  wilful ;  it  must  have  been  committed 
in  the  night  time ;  there  must  have  been  a  human  being  in 
the  school  house,  and  it  must  have  been  within  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  defendant  that  there  was  a  human  being  in  the 
building  at  the  time  of  the  burning. 

District  Attorney  George  D.  Forsythe,  in  People  v. 
Cronin,  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  20,  1895. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     39 

Our  fathers  well  knew  that  the  man  who  is  accused  of 
crime  fights  with  society  banded  against  him.  It  is  a 
matter  of  common  observation  that  that  is  so.  Friends 
fall  off,  resources  fail,  the  public  prints  may  be  full  of 
exaggerated  statements  against  him,  there  exists  that  uni- 
versal feeling  of  distrust  which  leads  us  all  to  avoid  a 
man  who  is  accused.  Hence  sprang  up  that  merciful 
maxim  that  a  person  accused  of  any  offense,  be  it  high 
or  low,  is  conclusively  presumed  to  be  innocent  until  he 
is  proved  guilty  by  such  a  weight  of  evidence  as  shuts 
the  avenue  of  every  presumption  in  his  favor.  He  must 
be  proved  guilty  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt,  beyond  the 
last  reasonable  doubt  which  can  arise  in  the  mind  of  any 
rational  person  considering  the  case.  Doubt,  not  only  as 
to  the  act,  doubt,  not  only  as  to  the  intent,  but  doubt  as  to 
the  motive,  doubt  as  to  each  element  of  the  act. 

Ex-Governor  Davis,  in  Page  Impeachment  case,  St. 
Paul,  Minn.,  1878. 

DUTY    OF    SOCIETY    TOWARD    CRIME. 

The  great,  the  main  duty ;  the  great,  the  main  right  of 
civil  society,  in  the  exercise  of  its  dominion  over  the  lib- 
erties, lives,  and  property  of  its  subjects,  is  the  good  of 
the  public,  in  the  prevention,  the  check,  the  discourage- 
ment, the  suppression  of  crime. 

William  M.  Evarts,  in  case  of  Savannah  Privateers. 

THE    ELEMENTS    OF    CRIME. 

Every  crime  is  like  every  other  complex  idea,  capable 
of  a  legal  definition.  If  all  the  component  parts  which  go 
to  its  formation  are  put  as  facts  upon  the  record,  the  court 
can  pronounce  the  perpetrator  of  them  a  criminal:  l)ul 
if  any  of  them  are  wanting,  it  is  a  chasm  in  fact,  and  can- 
not be  supi)liod.  Wherever  intention  goes  to  the  essence 
of  the  charges  it  must  be  found  by  the  jury.     It  must  be 


40     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

either  comprehended  under  the  word  guilty  in  the  general 
verdict,  or  specifically  found  as  fact  by  the  special  verdict. 
Lord  Erskine,  Argument  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench, 
Eng.,  in  support  of  the  rights  of  juries. 

THE  EVIDENCE  AND  THE  CRIME. 

The  more  horrid  and  atrocious  the  nature  of  any  crime 
charged  upon  any  man  is,  the  more  clear  and  invincible 
should  be  the  evidence  upon  which  he  is  convicted. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  the  Dublin  Defenders,  Dec. 
22,  1795. 

THE    INCREASE    OF    CRIME. 

As  civilization  increases  crime  becomes  more  wicked. 
We  are  becoming  used  to  the  armed  robber. 

Attorney  General  H.  M.  Knowlton,  in  People  v.  Sulli- 
van, Loivell,  Mass.,  June  14,  1895. 

CRIMINAL    CASES    AND    CHARGES. 

There  is  more  or  less  pain  in  every  criminal  case.  There 
are  few  men  brought  into  court  who  do  not  have  wives 
and  mothers.  In  many  instances  a  wife  or  mother  comes 
into  court  to  show  her  affection  in  the  hour  of  extremity. 
But  it  is  your  place,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  to  go  right  on, 
looking  only  to  your  duty. 

Joint  W.  Kern,  for  prosecution  in  People  v.  Haughey, 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Remember,  gentlemen,  that  the  burden  rests  upon  the 
people;  remember  that  the  law  in  its  humanity  declares, 
if  there  is  a  reasonable  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the  jury, 
not  merely  upon  the  whole  case,  but  upon  any  one  branch 
of  it,  you  are  bound  by  that  oath  you  have  registered  in 
heaven,  to  pronounce  a  verdict  of  not  guilty. 

Lyman  T remain,  in  defense  of  Edward  S.  Stokes,  New 
York,  Oct.  27,  1873. 


IMANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     41 

THEORY    OF    DAMAGES    IN    CRIMINAL    CONVERSA- 
TION. 

The  learned  counsel  has  told  you  that  this  unfortunate 
woman  is  not  to  be  estimated  at  forty  thousand  pounds. 
Fatal  and  unquestionable  is  the  truth  of  this  assertion. 
Alas !  gentlemen,  she  is  no  longer  worth  anything ;  faded, 
fallen,  degraded  and  disgraced,  she  is  worth  less  than 
nothing.  But  it  is  for  the  honor,  the  hope,  the  expecta- 
tion, the  tenderness  and  the  comforts  that  have  been 
blasted  by  the  defendant,  and  have  fled  forever,  that  you 
are  to  remunerate  the  plaintiff  by  the  punishment  of  the 
defendant.  It  is  not  her  present  value  which  you  are 
to  weigh ;  but  it  is  her  value  at  that  time  when  she  sat 
basking  in  a  husband's  love,  with  the  blessing  of  heaven 
on  her  head,  and  its  purity  in  her  heart ;  when  she  sat 
among  her  family  and  administered  the  morality  of  the 
parental  board ;  estimate  that  past  value,  compare  it  with 
its  present  deplorable  diminution,  and  it  may  lead  you  to 
form  some  judgment  of  the  severity  of  the  injury  and  the 
extent  of  the  compensation. 

John  P.  Cnrran,  in  Massy  v.  Marquis  of  Hcadfort, 
County  Clare,  Ire,  July  2y,  1804. 

CRIMINAL   INTENT— THE    ESSENCE    OF   CRIME. 

It  may  be  affirmed  as  an  universal  proposition,  that 
criminal  intention  is  the  essence  of  every  species  of  crime. 
All  indictments  commence  with  an  assertion  of  corrupt 
motives ;  and  in  indictments  for  treason,  the  overt  acts 
laid  are  to  show  the  manner  in  which  the  wicked  intention 
is  carried  into  execution.  In  the  speeches  of  Lord  Ers- 
kine,  to  whom  the  world  is  so  largely  indebted  for  a  cor- 
rect knowledge  of  the  principles  of  civil  liberty  and  the 
law  of  treason,  you  will  fintl  him  perpetually  contending, 
and  contcnrling  with  effect,  that  although  the  crown  had 
proved  the  facts  charged,  it  had  not  shown  the  evil  design, 


42     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

the  corrupt  purpose,  without  which  the  facts  are  nothing. 
.  .  .  This  is  the  master  key  which  lets  you  into  the 
whole  secret  of  this  title  of  the  criminal  law.  Sir  Walter 
Tyrrel,  who,  in  shooting  at  a  deer  killed  the  king,  could 
not  be  convicted  of  treason.  The  killing  was  per  infor- 
tunium. So,  where  a  person  non  compos  slays  another 
designedly,  still  he  is  innocent,  because  there  is  no  malig- 
nity in  his  heart.  So  in  every  homicide,  it  is  felonious, 
justifiable  or  excusable,  according  to  the  purpose  with 
which  the  act  was  perpetrated.  It  is  murder  where  it  is 
done  through  malice ;  manslaughter,  if  without  malice ; 
where  it  is  done  through  misfortune,  or  in  self  defense,  it 
is  excusable,  and  it  is  justifiable  when  done  in  advance- 
ment of  public  justice,  in  obedience  to  the  laws.  If  the 
heart  be  uncontaminated  by  corrupt  intentions,  the  man 
is  innocent,  for  it  is  motive  that  qualifies  actions.  As  it 
will  be  with  God  so  it  is  with  the  man :  the  latent  inten- 
tion of  the  heart  must  be  searched. 

IVilliam  Pinkney,  in  defense  of  John  Hodges,  Balti- 
more, Md.,  May,  1815. 

CONFUSED    MINDS    OF    CRIMINALS. 

I  claim  there  is  no  criminal  on  the  face  of  the  earth, 
even  though  he  makes  no  direct  confession,  but  what  will 
under  the  laws  of  his  being  and  the  laws  of  God,  show 
confusion,  directly  or  indirectly  betray  the  condition  of 
his  mind  and  disclose  to  some  extent  to  him  who  can 
read  it,  the  guilt  which  lies  in  his  heart. 

State's  Attorney  Frank  M.  Nye,  in  People  v.  Hayward, 
at  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  Dec.,  1895. 

THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE  TO  CRIMINALS. 

Then  comes  the  trial,  and  it  must  be  before  a  regular 
court  of  competent  jurisdiction,  ordained  and  established 
for  the  State  and  district  in  which  the  crime  was  com- 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     43 

mitted;  and  this  shall  not  be  evaded  by  a  legislative 
change  in  the  district  after  the  crime  is  alleged  to  be 
done. 

His  guilt  or  innocence  shall  be  determined  by  an  im- 
partial jury.  These  English  words  are  to  be  understood 
in  their  English  sense,  and  they  mean  that  the  jurors  shall 
be  fairly  selected  by  a  sworn  officer,  from  among  the  peers 
of  the  party  residing  within  the  local  jurisdiction  of  the 
court.  When  they  are  called  into  the  box,  he  can  purge 
the  panel  of  all  dishonesty,  prejudice,  personal  enmity, 
and  ignorance,  by  a  certain  number  of  peremptory  chal- 
lenges, and  as  many  more  challenges  as  he  can  sustain 
by  showing  reasonable  cause. 

The  trial  shall  be  public  and  open,  that  no  underhand 
advantage  may  be  taken.  The  party  shall  be  confronted 
with  the  witnesses  against  him,  have  compulsory  process 
for  his  own  witnesses,  and  be  entitled  to  the  assistance  of 
counsel  in  his  defense.  After  the  evidence  is  heard  and 
discussed,  unless  the  jury  shall,  upon  their  oaths,  unani- 
mously agree  to  surrender  him  up  into  the  hands  of  the 
court  as  a  guilty  man,  not  a  hair  of  his  head  can  be  touched 
by  way  of  punishment. 

After  a  verdict  of  guilty,  he  is  still  protected.  No  cruel 
or  unusual  punishment  shall  be  inflicted,  nor  any  punish- 
ment at  all,  except  what  is  annexed  by  law  to  his  offense. 
It  cannot  be  doubted  for  a  moment,  that  if  a  person  con- 
victed of  an  offense  not  capital  were  to  be  hung  on  the 
order  of  a  judge,  such  judge  would  be  guilty  of  murder 
as  plainly  as  if  he  should  come  down  from  the  Ijoncli. 
tuck  up  the  sleeves  of  his  gown,  and  let  out  the  pris- 
oner's blood  with  his  own  hand. 

After  all  is  over,  the  law  continues  to  spread  its  guard- 
ianship around  him.  Whether  he  is  acf|uitted  or  con- 
demned he  shall  never  again  be  molested  for  that  offense. 


44.     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

No  man  shall  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb 
for  the  same  cause. 

Judge  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  in  Milligan  Case,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  Dec.,  1866. 


A  man  shall  not  be  charged  with  one  crime,  and  con- 
victed of  another. 

John  P.  Ciirran,  Trial  of  Henry  Sheaves,  for  high  trea- 
son, Dublin,  July  14,  1798. 


The  true  rule  by  which  to  ascertain  what  evidence 
should  be  deemed  sufficient  against  a  prisoner  is,  that  no 
man  should  be  convicted  of  any  crime  except  upon  the 
evidence  of  a  man  subject  to  an  indictment  for  perjury, 
where  the  evidence  is  such  as  if  false,  the  falsehood  of  it 
may  be  so  proved  as  to  convict  the  witness  of  perjury. 

John  P.  Ciirran,  Trial  of  Dublin  Defenders,  Dec.  22, 
1795- 


Thus  the  law,  which  is  made  to  correct  and  punish  the 
wickedness  of  the  heart  and  not  the  unconscious  deeds  of 
the  body,  goes  up  to  the  fountain  of  human  agency,  and 
arraigns  the  lurking  mischief  of  the  soul,  dragging  it  to 
light  by  the  evidence  of  open  acts.  The  hostile  mind  is 
the  crime. 

Lord  Erskine,  Speech  against  constructive  treason,  in 
defense  of  Lord  George  Gordon. 


In  proportion  as  you  increase  the  severity  of  the  pun- 
ishment, so  you  diminish  the  certainty  of  its  infliction ; 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     45 

courts  will  be  more  scrupulous  and  technical  in  motions 
to  arrest  judgment  and  to  quash  indictments;  juries  will 
not  convict  for  an  offense  so  readily,  where  the  punish- 
ment is  cruel  as  where  it  is  more  lenient. 

Thomas  Corivin,  Speech  in  the  General  Assembly  of 
Ohio,  Dec.  i8,  1822,  against  corporal  punishment. 


Your  lordships  will  observe,  that  in  the  whole  catalogue 
of  crimes  for  which  a  justice  of  peace  may  grant  a  war- 
rant, there  is  not  one  that  imposes  upon  him  the  necessity 
of  deciding  upon  any  matter  of  law,  involving  the  smallest 
doubt  or  difficulty  whatsoever.  In  treason  the  overt  act ; 
in  felony,  whether  capital  or  not,  the  act ;  in  misdemean- 
ors, the  simple  act. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Judge  Johnson,  London, 
Feb'y  4,  1805. 

THE  POPULARITY  OF  CUSTOMS. 

Customs  may  not  be  as  wise  as  laws,  but  they  are  always 
more  popular.  They  array  upon  their  side  alike  the  con- 
victions and  prejudices  of  men.  They  arc  spontaneous. 
They  grow  out  of  man's  necessities  and  invention,  and  as 
circumstances  change  and  alter  and  die  off,  the  custom 
falls  into  desuetude  and  we  get  rid  of  it.  But  if  you 
make  it  into  law  circumstances  alter,  but  the  law  remains 
and  becomes  part  of  that  obsolete  legislation  which  haunts 
our  statute  books  and  harasses  society. 

Lord  BeaconsHeld,  Speech  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
March  11,  1870,  on  the  Irish  Land  Bill. 

DEBTS. 

In  considering  this  subject,  it  will  be  necessary  to  define 
what  a  (kbt  is.     I  mean  by  it  an  engagement  or  promise 


46     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

by  one  man  to  pay  another  for  a  valuable  consideration  an 
adequate  price.  By  a  contract  thus  made  for  a  valuable 
consideration,  there  arises  what,  in  the  law  phrase,  is 
called  a  lien  on  the  body  and  goods  of  the  promisor  or 
debtor. 

Patrick  Henry,  in  case  of  Jones  v.  Walker,  Richmond, 
Va.,  Nov.,  1 791. 

A   JUST   DEFENSE. 

But,  in  the  cause  of  humanity,  we  are  encouraged  to 
hope  for  divine  assistance  where  human  powers  are  weak. 
As  you  all  know,  I  provided  for  my  way  through  these 
trials,  neither  gold  nor  silver  in  my  purse,  nor  scrip ;  and 
when  I  could  not  think  beforehand  what  I  would  say,  I 
remembered  that  it  was  said  to  those  who  had  a  beneficent 
commission,  that  they  should  take  no  thought  what  they 
should  say  when  brought  before  the  magistrate,  for,  in 
that  same  hour,  it  should  be  given  them  what  they  should 
say,  and  it  should  not  be  they  who  should  speak,  but  the 
spirit  of  their  Father  speaking  in  them. 

William  H.  Seward,  in  case  of  the  People  v.  the  negro, 
William  Freeman,  indicted  for  the  murder  of  John  G. 
Van  Nest,  Auburn,  N.  Y .,  July,  1846. 

DESPOTISM. 

Under  the  old  French  monarchy  the  favorite  fashion 
of  it  was  a  lettre  de  cachet,  signed  by  the  king,  and  this 
would  consign  the  party  to  a  loathsome  dungeon  until  he 
died,  forgotten  by  all  the  world.  An  imperial  nkase  will 
answer  the  same  purpose  in  Russia.  The  most  faithful 
subject  of  that  amiable  autocracy  may  lie  down  in  the 
evening  to  dream  of  his  future  prosperity,  and  before 
daybreak  he  will  find  himself  between  two  dragoons  on 
his  way  to  the  mines  of  Siberia.     In  Turkey,  the  verbal 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     47 

order  of  the  Sultan  or  any  of  his  powerful  favorites  will 
cause  a  man  to  be  tied  up  in  a  sack  and  cast  into  the  Bos- 
phorus.  Nero  accused  Peter  and  Paul  of  spreading  a 
"  pestilent  superstition,"  which  they  called  the  gospel. 
He  heard  their  defense  in  person,  and  sent  them  to  the 
cross.  Afterwards  he  tried  the  whole  Christian  church 
in  one  body,  on  a  charge  of  setting  fire  to  the  city,  and  he 
convicted  them,  though  he  knew  not  onl}'  that  they  were 
innocent,  but  that  he  himself  had  committed  the  crime. 
The  judgment  was  followed  by  instant  execution;  he 
let  loose  the  Praetorian  guards  upon  men,  women,  and 
children  to  drown,  butcher,  and  burn  them.  Herod  saw 
fit,  for  good  political  reasons,  closely  affecting  the  perma- 
nence of  his  reign  in  Judea,  to  punish  certain  fyossible 
traitors  in  Bethlehem  by  anticipation.  This  required  the 
death  of  all  the  children  in  that  city  under  two  years  of 
age.  He  issued  his  "  general  order,"  and  his  provost 
marshal  carried  it  out  with  so  much  alacrity  and  zeal  that 
in  one  day  the  whole  land  was  filled  with  mourning  and 
lamentation. 

Judge  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  on  Right  of  Trial  by  Jury. 

THE    DESTRUCTION    OF    DESPOTISM. 

The  times  were  troublesome.  All  over  Germany  the 
spirit  of  rebellion  was  rising;  everywhere  the  people 
wanted  to  see  a  first-class  revolution,  like  that  which  had 
just  exploded  in  France.  Many  persons  in  liavaria  dis- 
liked to  be  governed  so  absolutely  by  a  lady  of  the  char- 
acter which  Lola  Montez  bore,  and  .some  of  them  were 
rash  enough  to  say  so.  Df  course  that  was  treason,  and 
she  went  about  to  punish  it  in  the  simplest  of  all  possible 
ways.  She  bought  herself  a  pack  of  Ftiglish  bull-dogs, 
trained  to  tear  the  flesh  and  mangle  the  limbs,  and  laj)  the 


48     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

life-blood ;  and  with  these  dogs  at  her  heels,  she  marched 
up  and  down  the  streets  of  Munich  with  a  most  majestic 
tread,  and  with  a  sense  of  power  which  any  judge  advo- 
cate in  America  might  envy.  When  she  saw  any  body 
whom  she  chose  to  denounce  for  '*  thwarting  the  gov- 
ernment," or  "  using  disloyal  language,"  her  obedient 
followers  needed  but  a  sign  to  make  them  spring  at  the 
throat  of  their  victim.  It  gives  me  unspeakable  pleasure 
to  tell  you  the  sequel.  The  people  rose  in  their  strength, 
smashed  down  the  whole  machinery  of  oppression,  and 
drove  out  into  uttermost  shame  king,  strumpet,  dogs  and 
all.  From  that  time  to  this  neither  man,  woman,  nor 
beast,  has  dared  to  worry  or  kill  the  people  of  Bavaria. 
Judge  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  on  Right  of  Trial  by  Jury. 

FREE  DISCUSSIOX. 

One  asylum  of  free  discussion  is  still  inviolate.  There 
is  still  one  spot  in  Europe  where  man  can  freely  exercise 
his  reason  on  the  most  important  concerns  of  society ; 
where  he  can  boldly  publish  his  judgment  on  the  acts  of 
the  proudest  and  most  powerful  tyrants.  The  press  of 
England  is  still  free.  It  is  guarded  by  the  free  Constitu- 
tion of  our  forefathers.  It  is  guarded  by  the  hearts  and 
arms  of  Englishmen,  and,  I  trust  I  may  venture  to  say, 
that  if  it  be  to  fall,  it  will  fall  only  under  the  ruins  of  the 
British  empire. 

It  is  an  awful  consideration,  gentlemen.  Every  other 
monument  of  European  liberty  has  perished.  That  an- 
cient fabric  which  has  been  gradually  reared  by  the  wis- 
dom and  virtue  of  our  fathers  still  stands.  It  stands, 
thanks  be  to  God !  solid  and  entire ;  but  it  stands  alone, 
and  it  stands  amid  ruins. 

Sir  James  Mackintosh,  Trial  of  Jean  Peltier,  Court  of 
King's  Bench,  Feb.  21,  1803. 


IVIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     4-9 

DISCUSSION    OF    A    QUESTION. 

The  first  thing  which  presents  itself  in  the  discussion 
of  any  subject,  is  to  state  distinctly  and  with  precision, 
what  the  question  is,  and  where  prejudice  and  misrepre- 
sentation have  been  exerted,  to  distinguish  it  accurately 
from  what  it  is  not. 

Lord  Erskine,  Speech  in  defense  of  Thomas  Paine, 
tried  for  libel. 

DIVORCE. 

There  is  a  future  for  them  both  together,  gentlemen,  I 
think;  but  if  that  be  not  so — if  it  be  that  this  matter  has 
proceeded  so  far  that  her  husband's  affections  have  been 
alienated,  and  that  a  happy  life  in  her  case  has  become 
impracticable,  yet  for  all  that,  let  there  be  no  divorce. 
For  no  levity,  no  vanity,  no  indiscretion,  let  there  be  a 
divorce.  I  bring  to  your  minds  the  words  of  Him  who 
spake  as  never  man  spake :  "  Whosoever  putteth  away 
his  wife  " — for  vanity,  for  coquetry,  for  levity,  for  flirta- 
tion?— "Whosoever  putteth  away  his  wife  for  anything 
short  of  adultery,  intentionally,  willingly  indulged,  and 
that  established  by  clear,  undoubted  and  credible  proof — 
whosoever  does  it,  causeth  her  to  commit  adultery." 

Rufus  Choate,  in  Dalton  divorce  case. 

REASONABLE    DOUBT. 

Now  this  term,  reasonable  doubt,  is  not  a  bugaboo  in- 
vented by  the  courts,  but  as  the  court  will  tt-li  \ou,  it 
means  just  what  it  says — a  reasonable  doubt— not  a 
chimerical,  fanciful,  evanescent  impression  that  flits  across 
your  mind,  but  a  fixed,  tangible,  reasonable  doubt.  As 
the  courts  have  said,  it  is  a  term  easily  understood,  but 
bard  to  define.     It  is  not  necessary  before  you  find  the 


50     IVIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

defendant  guilty  in  this  case  that  you  must  be  convinced 
beyond  the  mere  possibiUty  of  error. 

CasJi  C.  Hadley  for  prosecution,  in  People  v.  Hinshaw, 
Danville,  Ind. 

The  moment  the  evidence  amounts  to  what  satisfies 
your  judgment  then  there  is  no  reasonable  doubt.  It  is 
on  such  a  doubt  that  the  defense  relies  to  block  a  convic- 
tion. If  this  defendant's  guilt  is  not  proved  by  the  evi- 
dence, I  do  not  want  you  to  bring  in  a  verdict  against  him. 
But  I  do  not  want  the  doubt  to  be  a  stumbling  block  to  a 
fair  consideration  of  the  evidence.  If  your  judgment  is 
satisfied  there  can  be  no  further  proof. 

District  Attorney  George  D.  Forsythe,  in  People  v. 
Cronin  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  20,  1895. 


A  reasonable  doubt  was  an  uncertainty  as  to  guilt  after 
careful  consideration  of  the  evidence.  The  principle  of 
presumption  of  innocence  had  been,  the  Supreme  Court 
said,  traced  back  to  Deuteronomy  by  Greenleaf,  and  per- 
meated the  Roman  and  Grecian  law.  Continuing,  the 
Supreme  Court  quoted  Greenleaf  that  it  was  the  duty  of 
all  judges  when  requested  to  charge  the  presumption  of 
innocence.  The  court  held  that  presumption  of  inno- 
cence and  reasonable  doubt  were  not  identical,  but  the 
presumption  of  innocence  was  the  origin  of  the  doctrine 
of  reasonable  doubt  and  essential  to  it. 

Judge  Lusenburg  for  defense,  in  People  v.  Bier,  May 
18,  1895. 

DUTY   AND    RELIGION. 

Sionma  ratio  est  quae  pro  religione  facit. 
That  rule  of  conduct  is  to  be  deemed  binding  which 
religion  dictates. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     51 

DUTY    OF    THE    DISTRICT    ATTORNEY. 

True,  the  duty  of  the  Government  is  to  enforce  the 
law ;  to  punish  offenders ;  to  protect  human  Hfe ;  but  in 
no  spirit  of  persecution  and  with  no  vindictiveness.  It 
is  a  painful  thing,  and  it  ought  to  be  so  to  the  officer  of 
public  justice,  to  arraign,  try,  and  execute  even  the  guilty. 
Zeal,  perhaps  overmuch,  and  passion  may  be  excused  in 
the  prisoner,  or  in  her  advocate  when  arraigned  before 
the  bar  of  public  justice,  and  charged  with  the  highest 
crime  known  to  the  laws,  but  the  representative  of  the 
commonwealth  comes  here  unintluenced  by  private  con- 
siderations. He  is  presumed  to  be  disinterested,  pre- 
sumed to  be  impartial,  and  absolutely  to  desire,  as  the  law 
desires,  that  no  innocent  person  should  suffer;  and  to 
desire  to  prosecute  his  cause  in  the  spirit  of  the  law, 
which  says  that  it  is  better  that  ninety-nine  guilty  persons 
should  escape  than  that  one  innocent  person  should  suffer. 

James  Hughes,  Trial  of  Mary  Harris,  Washington, 
D.  C,  July,  1865. 

EQUITY. 

The  equity  jurisdiction  of  Great  Britain  has  been  con- 
sidered as  an  anomaly  in  legal  science.  Continental  ju- 
rists seem  never  to  have  comprehended  it;  though  it 
could  easily  be  shown  that  no  civil  society  ever  existed  in 
which  there  were  not  some  remediable  forms  of  injustice 
which  lex  non  exacte  definit  sed  arhitrio  honi  viri  per- 
mittit.  Institutions  which  are  novel  in  form,  will  always 
excite  criticism  and  opposition,  however  harmonious  they 
may  be,  in  principle,  with  what  has  gone  before. 

Charles  O'Conor.  for  the  claimants,  in  the  case  of  the 
Brig-of-war  General  ^-hinstrong. 

ACQUIESCENCE    IN    ERROR. 

Cottsensus  tollit  errorem 


52     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

Acquiescence  of  the  party  who  might  take  advantage 
of  an  error  obviates  its  effect. 

THE    PURSUIT    OF   ERROR. 

Among  the  last  words  of  warning  which  came  from  the 
Hps  of  Chatham,  as  he  fell  at  his  post  in  the  British  Sen- 
ate, almost  his  dying  words,  were,  "  not  to  put  trust  in  a 
man  who  perseveres  in  unretracted  error." 

Charles  Sumner,  Speech  in  Tremont  Temple,  Boston, 
Noi'.  4,  1844,  against  the  Mexican  War. 

THE  EXISTENCE  OF  ERRORS  AND  TRUTH. 

A  mysterious  providence  has  permitted,  does  always 
permit,  error  to  exist  everywhere,  contemporaneously 
with  truth,  wrong  with  right,  freedom  with  slavery ;  and 
between  these  different  powers  there  is  always  an  irre- 
pressible conflict.  That  conflict  is  the  trial  of  human 
virtue — a  triumph  of  the  good  over  the  bad  constitutes 
the  perfection  of  human  nature. 

William  H.  Seward,  Speech  at  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  Nov. 
5,  i860. 

EVIDENCE. 

It  is  a  rule  of  law  not  to  make  the  evidence  any  stronger 
against  the  defendant  than  the  witness  makes  it. 

George  Raines,  in  People  v.  Cronin,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

EVIDENCE    AND    OATHS. 

But  of  the  probability  of  this  evidence  how  shall  I 
speak?  What  does  it  depend  on?  The  integrity  of  the 
man  who  swears  it.  Do  you  think,  gentlemen,  that  in 
every  case  an  oath  is  a  sufficient  measure  to  weigh  down 
life  and  liberty? — where  a  miscreant  swears  guilt  against 
a  man,  must  you  convict  him? 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Dr.  Drennan,  Dublin,  June 

25.  1799- 


^lANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     53 

EVIDENCE   BY    ANTICIPATION. 

But  why  did  he  take  notes?  He  said  it  was  because 
he  foresaw  what  would  happen.  How  fortunate  the 
Crown  is,  gentlemen,  to  have  such  friends  to  collect  evi- 
dence by  anticipation. 

Lord  Erskine,  Speech  in  defense  of  Lord  George  Gor- 
don, against  constructive  treason. 

SUPPRESSION    OF    EVIDENCE. 

The  presumptions  are  all  against  a  proceeding  like  this. 
Evidence  that  is  suppressed  is  presumed  to  be  injurious 
to  those  who  suppress  it.  This  is  an  ancient  maxim  of 
the  law  as  well  as  a  proverb  of  wisdom. 

Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  Trial  of  Harry  C.  Black. 


This  is  no  forced  assumption  of  mine.  It  is  a  well- 
settled  conclusion  of  law.  The  suppression  of  evidence 
is  a  grave  and  almost  conclusive  presumption  against  the 
party  that  resorts  to  it.  This  is  more  especially  true 
when,  as  in  this  case,  the  prosecution  is  sustained  by  the 
treasury  of  the  Government  in  enforcing  the  attendance 
of  witnesses.  What  is  the  object  of  a  trial  in  a  court  of 
justice?  We  are  here  in  search  of  truth.  We  have,  each 
one  of  us,  under  the  solemnities  of  an  oath,  invoked  the 
name  and  help  of  God  in  the  discharge  of  that  duty.  We 
stand  on  holy  ground.  Life,  life,  that  mysterious  gift 
of  the  Creator,  is  the  issue  at  stake.  Its  awful  import 
should  inspire  every  breast  with  a  religious  desire  to  aid 
this  court  and  jury  in  arriving,  if  possible,  at  the  exact 
truth, 

Daniel  li'.  Voorhees,  Trial  of  Mary  Harris. 


54!     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

EXCLUSION. 

Expressio  unius  est  exclusio  altcrius. 
The  express  mention  of  one  thing  impUes  the  exclusion 
of  another. 

FAMILY   HONOR. 

And  if  he  arose  and  acted  upon  this  fact  and  slew  the 
man  who  put  out  the  light  and  joy  of  an  innocent  and  un- 
offending household,  would  his  conduct  have  been  with- 
out precedent,  novel  and  strange  in  the  history  of  man- 
kind ?  There  is  a  very  old  case  and  of  very  high  authority 
on  this  point.  It  is  the  earliest  on  record.  The  daughter 
of  Jacob  was  seduced  by  a  prince  of  one  of  the  neighbor- 
ing tribes.  Her  brothers,  Simeon  and  Levi,  were  in  the 
fields  at  their  usual  avocations,  when  they  were  told  by 
others  what  had  befallen  their  sister.  They  believed  the 
story  of  their  disgrace,  and  with  their  swords,  in  due 
time,  they  acted  upon  it  to  the  total  destruction,  not  merely 
of  the  seducer,  but  of  the  whole  tribe  who  supported  him 
in  his  conduct.  And  when  their  father,  who  was  old 
and  apprehensive  of  trouble  growing  out  of  their  terrible 
vengeance,  deplored  their  fierce  and  sanguinary  meas- 
ures, they  gave  that  memorable  answer  which  has  sprung 
to  the  lips  of  manly  brothers  in  every  age  and  clime  from 
that  hour  to  this,  "  Shall  he  deal  with  our  sister  as  a 
harlot  ?  " 

Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  Harry  C.  Black. 

FAMILY   RELATIONS. 

The  very  existence  of  civil  society  depends  not  on 
human  life,  but  on  the  family  relations.  "  Who  knows 
not,"  says  John  Milton,  "  that  chastity  and  purity  of  liv- 
ing cannot  be  established  or  continued,  except  it  be  first 
established  in  private  families,   from  whence  the  whole 


IVIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     55 

breed  of  men  come  forth?  "  "'  The  family,"  says  another 
distinguished  moraUst,  "  is  the  cradle  of  sensibility,  where 
the  first  lessons  are  taught  of  that  tenderness  and  hu- 
manity which  cement  mankind  together ;  and  were  they 
extinguished,  the  whole  fabric  of  society  would  be  dis- 
solved." In  a  general  sense,  the  family  may  embrace 
various  degrees  of  affinity,  more  or  less  near ;  but  in  a 
strictly  legal  sense  it  embraces  the  relations  of  husband 
and  wife,  parent  and  child,  brother  and  sister.  The  first 
and  most  sacred  tie,  however,  is  the  nuptial  bond. 
"  Eternal  discord  and  violence,"  says  a  great  moralist, 
"  would  ensue  if  man's  chief  object  of  affection  were  se- 
cured to  him  by  no  legal  tie."  No  man  could  enjoy  any 
happiness  or  pursue  any  vocation  if  he  could  not  enjoy 
his  wife  free  from  the  assaults  of  the  adulterer.  The 
dignity  and  permanence  of  the  marriage  are  destroyed  by 
adultery.  When  the  wife  becomes  the  adulterer's  prey, 
the  family  is  destroyed,  and  all  family  relations  are  in- 
volved in  the  ruin  of  the  wife.  When  a  man  accepts  a 
woman's  hand  in  wedlock,  he  receives  it  with  a  vow  that 
she  will  love,  honor,  serve  and  obey  him  in  sickness  or  in 
health,  and  will  cleave  only  to  him.  This  bond  is  sancti- 
fied by  the  law  of  God.  '*  What  God  hath  joined  together 
let  no  man  put  asunder."  By  a  marriage,  the  woman  is 
sanctified  to  the  husband,  and  this  bond  must  be  pre- 
served for  the  evil  as  well  as  for  the  good.  It  is  the 
blessing  of  the  marital  institution  that  it  weans  men  from 
their  sins  and  draws  them  to  the  performance  of  their 
duties.  This  seal  of  the  nuptial  vow  is  no  idle  ceremony. 
Thenceforth  the  law  commands  the  adulterer  to  beware 
of  disturbing  their  peace.  It  commands  that  no  man 
shall  look  on  woman  to  lust  after  her. 
Edwin  M.  Stanton,  in  Sickles'  trial. 


56     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

FICKLENESS. 

But  I  mean  to  maintain,  and  I  shall  base  the  defense — 
a  triumphant  defense  in  this  case,  unless  I  deceive  myself 
upon  it — that  her  husband  had  her  heart  at  first,  and  has 
it  to-day;  that  this  attachment  (if  you  please  to  call  it 
so)  was  merely  a  transient  and  superficial  feeling,  a  false, 
fickle  light  on  the  surface  of  the  stream,  whose  depths 
were  unchanged,  untroubled,  undisturbed.  How  well  she 
loved  him  we  shall  see,  if  you  will  permit  me  to  go  a 
little  into  the  argument  of  the  cause. 

Rufus  Choatc,  in  Dalton  divorce  case. 

FINANCIAL   FAILURES. 

Failures  are  not  uncommon.  They  strew  the  sands  of 
the  ocean  of  commerce,  but  it  is  not  every  financial  dis- 
aster that  is  criminal.  Failure  does  not  necessarily  imply 
a  crime  on  the  part  of  those  who  were  in  control.  You 
are  not  to  infer  that,  because  an  enterprise  was  proved 
unsuccessful  and  goes  down  that  the  pilot  who  steered  the 
vessel  purposely  ran  it  upon  the  rocks.  Before  you  can 
conclude  that  those  who  have  charge  of  an  enterprise  are 
criminals,  you  must  conclude  that  there  was  an  intent  to 
send  it  to  the  bottom. 

F.  N.  Chambers,  for  defense  in  People  v.  Haughey, 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 

FINANCIAL   WRECKAGE. 

For  years  the  ancient  mariner  at  the  helm  of  the  In- 
dianapolis National  Bank  guided  his  craft  through  squalls 
and  along  rocky  shores.  He  knew  for  years  that  he  was 
sinking.  He  knew  that  he  had  landed  at  a  small  island 
and  had  taken  aboard  these  two  outcasts  and  that  they 
were  scuttling  his  ship  in  the  hold.  He  felt  himself  sink- 
ing, but  he  dare  not  leave  the  helm.  And  these  scuttlers 
stood   by,   clothed   with   life-preservers,   ready   to  jump 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     57 

when  the  final  moment  came  and  the  billows  were  about 
to  roll  over  the  ship. 

For  we  don't  know  how  many  years  this  old  man  recog- 
nized the  gathering  storm  and  knew  that  he  must  go  to 
the  bottom.  The  pistol  of  the  suicide  was  at  his  head 
we  know  not  how  many  times,  but  he  was  a  Christian 
and  would  not  add  to  the  wreck  of  the  institution. 

U.  S.  District  Attorney  Frank  B.  Burke  for  prosecution 
in  People  v.  CoMn,  Indianapolis^  hid.,  Oct.  21,  1895. 

FIXTURES. 

Quicquid  plantafur  solo  solo  cedit. 
Whatever  is  affixed  to  the  soil  belongs  thereto, 

FLIRTATION. 

I  answer  in  my  own  language  also,  in  the  next  place, 
gentlemen,  which  I  greatly  prefer,  that  this  intimacy, 
which  since  the  days  of  Joseph  Addison,  has  been  called 
flirtation — a  vulgar,  coarse  word,  but  one  that  best  ex- 
presses the  idea — this  series  of  conduct,  however,  which 
we  call  flirtation,  as  circumstantial  evidence  to  prove  the 
fact  of  adultery,  is  wholly  worthless.  And  this  is  a 
point  on  which  I  hope,  gentlemen,  at  some  little  length, 
with  some  care — not  unmindful  of  my  duties  as  a  parent, 
a  citizen — to  lay  bare  before  you  my  views  also  as  a  law- 
yer, and  in  a  court.  I  repeat,  and  I  submit  to  your  honor's 
direction,  and  upon  the  authorities,  that  this  kind  of  in- 
timacy that  is  characterized,  as  Mr.  Coburn  characterizes 
it  also  between  the  parties,  as  circumstantial  evidence  of 
the  crime  of  adultery,  is  wholly  worthless.  .  .  .  With 
propriety,  with  decorum ,  with  a  proper  respect  and  re- 
gard to  reputation,  I  agree  it  cannot  consist,  and  does  not 
consist ;  but  with  innocence  of  the  least  degree  of  tho 
crime  of  adultery,  I  submit  that,  as  circumstantial  evi- 
dence,   it   is   absolutely   worthless,   and   upon    the   broad 


58     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

ground  that  it  may  perfectly  well  exist  and  be  committed, 
and  yet  no  crime  of  adultery  shall  have  been  committed. 
Rufns  Clwate,  in  Dalton  divorce  case. 

FORBEARANCE. 

Such  is  the  oscitancy  of  man,  that  he  lies  torpid  for 
ages  under  these  aggressions ;  until  at  last  some  signal 
abuse — the  violation  of  Lucrece,  the  death  of  Virginia, 
the  oppression  of  William  Tell— shakes  him  from  his 
slumber.  For  years  had  those  drunken  gambols  of  power 
been  played  in  England;  for  years  had  the  waters  of 
bitterness  been  rising  to  the  brim ;  at  last,  a  single  drop 
caused  them  to  overflow — the  oppression  of  a  single  indi- 
vidual raised  the  people  of  England  from  their  sleep. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Judge  Johnson,  Court  of  Ex- 
chequer, Feb.  4,  1805. 

FRAUD    AND    RIGHT    OF    ACTION. 

Ex  dolo  malo  nan  oritur  actio. 

A  right  of  action  cannot  arise  out  of  fraud. 

FRAUDS   IN    CONTRACTS. 

Sir,  contracts  do  not  commit  fraud.  Persons  commit 
fraud.  If  there  be  fraud  in  a  contract  somebody  has  put 
it  there,  somebody  has  committed  it.  I  would  like  to 
know  how  to  investigate  frauds  in  contracts  without 
bringing  into  question  the  character  and  acts  of  individ- 
uals. 

Roscoe  Conkling,  Speech  in  House  of  Representatives, 
April  2,  1862,  on  Goi'ernment  Contracts. 

FREAKS    OF    FORTUNE. 

The  freaks  of  fortune  are  not  always  cruel ;  in  the 
bitterness  of  her  jocularity,  you  see  she  can  adorn  the 
miscreancy  of  the  slave  in  the  trappings  of  power,  and 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     59 

rank,  and  wealth.  But  her  playfuhiess  is  not  always  in- 
human ;  she  will  sometimes  in  her  gambols,  fling  oil  upon 
the  wounds  of  the  sufferer ;  she  will  sometimes  save  the 
captive  from  the  dungeon  and  the  grave,  were  it  only 
that  she  might  afterwards  re-consign  him  to  his  destiny, 
by  the  reprisal  of  capricious  cruelty  upon  fantastic  com- 
miseration. 

John  P.  Curran,  in  Hevey  v.  Sirr,  Court  of  King's 
Bench,  May  17,  1802. 

GAMBLING. 

He  said  there  was  nothing  detrimental  to  the  character 
of  his  client  except  that  he  was  a  gambler.  I  wish  I  had 
time  to  read — perhaps  some  of  you  have  read  an  article 
in  a  late  number  of  "  Harper's  " — on  the  subject  of  gam- 
bling. He  who  shall  study  the  question,  he  who  shall 
find  how  it  transforms  mind  and  nerve,  how  it  inverts  the 
whole  soul  and  being,  will  find  that  it  renders  the  human 
mind  and  human  hands  capable  of  any  crime  on  earth 
and  may  be  as  sometimes  intoxicating  liquor  is,  the 
parent  and  taproot  of  all  other  crimes.  Nothing  to  be 
said  against  him  but  that  he  is  a  gambler,  indeed ! 

State's  Attorney  Frank  M.  Nye,  in  People  v.  Hayward, 
Minneapolis,  Minn.,  1895. 

GIFTS. 

Cnjus  est  dare  ejus  est  disponere. 

A  bestower  of  a  gift  has  a  right  to  regulate  its  dis- 
posal. 

AN    ACT    OF    GOD. 

Actus  dei  neniini  facit  iiijiiriam. 

An  act  of  God  is  so  treated  by  the  law  as  to  afifect  no 
one  injuriously. 


60     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

ADVANTAGES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERN- 
MENT. 

To  the  Union  we  will  look  up  as  the  temple  of  our 
freedom — a  temple  founded  in  the  afifections  and  sup- 
ported by  the  virtue  of  the  people.  Here  we  will  pour 
out  our  gratitude  to  the  Author  of  all  good,  for  suffering 
us  to  participate  in  the  rights  of  a  people  who  govern 
themselves.  Is  there,  at  this  moment,  a  nation  on  the 
earth  which  enjoys  this  right,  where  the  true  principles  of 
representation  are  understood  and  practised,  and  where 
all  authority  flows  from  and  returns,  at  stated  intervals, 
to  the  people?  I  answer,  there  is  not.  Can  a  govern- 
ment be  said  to  be  free  where  those  do  not  exist?  It 
cannot.  On  what  depends  the  enjoyment  of  those  rare, 
inestimable  rights?  On  the  firmness  and  on  the  power 
of  the  Union  to  protect  and  defend  them. 

William  M.  Evarts,  Trial  of  Savannah  Privateers. 
AMERICAN  POLITICAL  GOVERNMENT. 

True  men,  men  of  integrity,  entertain  different  views 
from  me  on  this  subject.  I  do  not  question  their  right  to 
do  so;  I  would  not  impugn  their  motives  in  so  doing. 
Nor  will  I  undertake  to  say  that  this  government  of  our 
fathers  is  perfect.  There  is  nothing  perfect  in  this  world, 
of  a  human  origin.  Nothing  connected  with  human  na- 
ture, from  man  himself  to  any  of  his  v^orks.  You  may 
select  the  wisest  and  best  men  for  your  judges,  and  yet 
how  many  defects  are  there  in  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice? You  may  select  the  wisest  and  best  men  for  your 
legislators,  and  yet  how  many  defects  are  apparent  in 
your  laws  ?     And  it  is  so  in  our  government. 

William  M.  Evarts,  in  case  of  Savannah  Privateers. 
THE  FRUITS   OF   GOOD   GOVERNMENT. 

I  said  a  good  government  cannot  be  endangered ;  I  say 
so  again ;   for  whether  it  be  good  or  bad,  it  can  never  de- 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     61 

pend  upon  assertion :  the  question  is  decided  by  simple 
inspection ;  to  try  the  tree,  look  at  its  fruit :  to  judge  of 
the  government,  look  at  the  people.  What  is  the  fruit 
of  a  good  government  ?  The  virtue  and  happiness  of  the 
people. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  A.  H.  Roivan,  Jan'y  29,  1794- 

THE  GENERAL  GOVERNMENT. 

They  determined  that  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  the 
people  of  New  York,  and  the  people  of  South  Carolina, 
each  of  them,  should  have  their  own  laws  about  agricul- 
ture, about  internal  trade,  about  marriage,  about  appren- 
ticeship, about  slavery,  about  religion,  about  schools,  about 
all  the  every-day  pulsations  of  individual  life  and  happi- 
ness, controlled  by  communities  that  moved  with  the  same 
pulsations,  obeyed  the  same  instincts,  and  were  animated 
by  the  same  purposes.  And,  as  this  latter  class  of  au- 
thority contains  in  itself  the  principal  means  of  oppression 
by  a  government,  and  is  the  principal  point  where  oppres- 
sion is  to  be  feared  by  people,  they  had  thus  robbed  the 
new  system  of  all  the  dangers  which  attend  the  too  ex- 
tensive power  of  a  government. 

IVilliam  M.  Evarts,  in  case  of  Savannah  Privateers. 

THE  THEORY  AND  OBJECT  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

The  general  doctrine  up  to  the  time  of  these  amend- 
ments continued  to  be,  that  the  States  were  sovereign 
over  their  own  State  concerns.  This  complex  govern- 
ment was  curiously  contrived  to  give  liberty  and  safety 
to  the  people  of  all  the  States.  It  was  fashioned  by  the 
people,  in  the  name  of  the  people,  and  for  the  people.  Its 
aim  was  to  keep  the  peace  among  the  States,  and  to  man- 
age affairs  of  common  concern  while  it  left  the  States  the 
entire  management  of  their  own  affairs.  Its  founders 
were  wise  and  practical  men.     They  knew  what  history 


62     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

had  taught  from  the  beginning  of  Greek  civiUzation,  that 
a  number  of  small  repubhcs  would  perish  without  feder- 
ation, and  that  federation  would  destroy  the  small  re- 
publics without  such  a  barrier  as  it  would  be  impossible 
to  pass.  Liberty  and  safety  were  the  ends  to  be  won  by 
the  double  and  complex  organization ;  liberty  from  the 
States  and  safety  from  the  Union,  and  the  founders 
thought  that  they  had  contrived  a  scheme  which  would 
make  the  States  and  the  union  essential  parts  of  a  great 
whole ;  that  they  had  set  bounds  to  each,  which  they  could 
not  pass;  in  short,  that  they  had  founded  "liberty  and 
union,   one  and  inseparable." 

David  Dudley  Field,  on  tlie  Enforcement  Act,  U.  S. 
Supreme  Court,  Washington,  D.  C,  Oct.,  1874 — trial  of 
Cruik  shank. 

THE  EFFECT  OF  GRANTS. 

Cuicunque  aliquis  quid  concedit,  concedere  videtur  et 
id  sine  quo  res  ipsa  esse  non  potuit. 

Whoever  grants  a  thing  is  supposed  also  tacitly  to  grant 
that  without  which  the  grant  itself  would  be  of  no  effect. 

GRANTS  OF  FUTURE  INTERESTS. 

Licet  dispositio  dc  interesse  future  sit  inutilis,  tamen 
fieri  potest  fieri  declaratio  prcecedens  qucr  sortiatur 
effectum,  intervenientc  noz'o  actu. 

Although  the  grant  of  a  future  interest  is  invalid,  yet  a 
declaration  precedent  may  be  made  which  will  take  effect 
on  the  intervention  of  some  new  act. 

THE   GRANTS   OF   PRINCIPALS. 

Accessorium  non  ducit,  scd  scquitur,  suum  principale. 
The  incident  shall  pass  by  the  grant  of  the  principal, 
but  not  the  principal  by  the  grant  of  the  incident. 


:manual  of  forensic  quotations   63 

THE  GREATER  AND  THE  LESS. 

Oumc  uiajiis  contiiiet  in  se  minus. 
The  greater  contains  the  less. 


In  prccsentia  majoris  cessat  potentia  minoris. 

In  presence  of  the  major,  the  power  of  the  minor  ceases. 

GRIEF  AND   SHAME. 

Grief,  when  its  cause  is  shame,  becomes  tolerable  to  a 
certain  extent  when  we  can  keep  our  shame  to  ourselves. 
Is  it  not  the  tendency  of  human  nature  to  bury  such  se- 
crets in  one's  own  bosom  ?  There  are  griefs  which  we 
delight  to  impart  to  others.  When  the  icy  hand  of  death 
has  closed  in  its  sleep  the  eyes  of  a  relative  or  friend,  we 
delight  in  imparting  our  anguish  to  those  who  come  with 
warm  hearts  and  cordial  hands  to  administer  to  us  the 
balm  of  consolation.  But  when  the  cause  of  grief  is 
shame,  man  hides  his  diminished  head,  for  he  feels  that  it 
is  diminished  by  the  disgrace  which  afflicts  him.  Gen- 
tlemen of  the  jury,  I  ask  you  what  must  have  been  the 
anguish  of  Mr.  Sickles  at  this  time? 

John  Graham,  Sickles'  trial,  Washington,  D.  C,  Feh'y, 
1859. 

GUILT    AND    INTENTIONS. 

Actus  non  facit  reiim  nisi  mens  sit  rea. 
The  act  itself  does  not  make  a  man  guilty  unless  his 
intentions  were  so. 

CIRCUMSTANTIAL  EVIDENCE  OF  GUILT. 

I  need  not  pause  to  remind  you  how  much  caution,  how 
much  candor,  and  how  much  intelligence  are  requisite  in 
appreciating  circumstantial  evidence  in  any  case.  That 
kind  of  evidence  may  clearly  prove  guilt.     That  many 


64.     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

times,  however,  it  has  also  shed  innocent  blood,  and  many 
times  !t  has  stained  a  fair  name,  I  need  not  pause  for  a 
moment  to  illustrate  or  remind  you.  Instead  of  doing 
that,  I  think  I  shall  be  better  occupied,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  his  honor,  in  reminding  you  of  the  two  great  rules 
by  which  circumstantial  evidence  is  to  be  weighed,  ap- 
preciated and  applied  by  the  jury.  Those  rules,  gentle- 
men, are  these : 

In  the  first  place,  that  the  jury  shall  be  satisfied  that 
they  conduct,  as  a  necessary  result  and  conclusion,  to  the 
inference  of  guilt.  It  is  a  rule  that  may  be  called  a  golden 
rule  in  the  examination  and  application  of  this  kind  of 
evidence  which  we  call  circumstantial,  that  should  it  so 
turn  out  that  every  fact  and  circumstance  alleged  and 
proved  to  exist  is  consistent,  on  the  one  hand  with  the 
hypothesis  of  guilt,  and  on  the  other  hand  consistent,  rea- 
sonably and  fairly,  with  the  hypothesis  of  innocence,  then 
those  circumstances  prove  nothing  at  all.  Unless  they 
go  so  far  as  to  establish  as  a  necessary  conclusion  this 
guilt  which  they  are  offered  with  a  view  to  establish,  they 
are  utterly  worthless  and  ineffectual  for  the  investigation 
of  truth.  I  had  the  honor  to  read  to  the  court  this  morn- 
ing, and  possibly  in  your  hearing  an  authority  in  which 
that  familiar  and  elementary  doctrine  was  laid  down,  a 
doctrine  every  day  applied,  everywhere  recognized  as 
primary  in  the  appreciation  of  this  kind  of  evidence.  It 
is  not  enough  that  the  circumstances  relied  upon  are 
plainly  and  certainly  proved.  It  is  not  enough  to  show 
that  they  are  consistent  with  the  hypothesis  of  guilt.  They 
must  also  render  the  hypothesis  of  innocence  inadmissi- 
ble and  impossible,  unreasonable  and  absurd,  or  they 
have  proved  nothing  at  all. 

Rufus  Choate,  in  the  Dalton  divorce  case. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     65 

In  order  to  justify  the  inference  of  legal  guilt  from  cir- 
cumstantial evidence,  the  existence  of  the  inculpatory 
facts  must  be  absolutely  incompatible  with  the  innocence 
of  the  accused,  and  incapable  of  explanation  upon  any 
other  reasonable  hypothesis  than  that  of  his  guilt. 

Judge  Porter,  in  Babcock  conspiracy  case,  St.  Louis, 
Feb'y,  1876. 

DOUBTS  OF  GUILT. 

Doubts  of  motive,  doubts  of  acts,  are  always  doubts  of 
guilt ;  and  reasonable  doubts  of  guilt  must  result  in  ac- 
quittal. 

David  Paul  Brown,  in  defense  of  Alex  W.  Holmes, 
Philadelphia,  Fa.,  April,  1842. 

GUILT   ESTABLISHED   CAN'T   BE    PURGED,   ETC. 

It  is  material,  however,  to  state  to  you  that,  as  soon  as 
guilt  is  once  established  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  nothing 
that  the  party  can  do  can  have  any  sort  of  retrospect  so 
as  to  purge  that  criminality,  if  once  completed.  It  is 
out  of  the  power  of  the  expiring  victim  of  a  death-blow 
to  give  any  release  or  acquittal  to  his  murderer ;  it  is 
out  of  the  power  of  any  human  creature,  upon  whom  an 
illegal  ofifence  has  been  committed,  by  any  act  of  forgive- 
ness to  purge  that  original  guilt ;  and  therefore,  the  sem- 
blance of  a  marriage  is  entirely  out  of  the  case. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Sir  Henry  Hayes,  April  16, 
1801. 

THE   CONDITION  OF  GUILT. 

Wretched  clienl !  unhappy  advocate!  what  a  combina- 
tion do  you  form  !  But  such  is  the  condition  of  guilt,  its 
commission  mean  and  tremulous,  its  defense  artificial  and 
insincere,  its  prosecution  candid  and  simple,  its  condemna- 


66     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 


tion  dignified  and  austere.  Such  had  been  the  defend- 
ant's guilt,  such  his  defense,  such  shall  be  my  address, 
and  such,  I  trust,  your  verdict. 

John  P.  Curran,  case  of  Massy  v.  Headfort,  County 
Clare,  Ireland,  July  27,  1804. 

THE  FOUNDATION  OF  GUILT. 

The  act  does  not  constitute  guilt  unless  the  mind  be 
guilty.  That  is  the  great  text  from  which  the  moral  penal 
justice  is  deduced;  it  stands  at  the  top  of  the  criminal 
page,  throughout  all  the  volumes  of  our  humane  and 
sensible  laws. 

Lord  Erskine,  Speech  against  constructive  treason,  in 
defense  of  Lord  George  Gordon. 

PRESUMPTION  OF  GUILT. 

This  is  one  of  the  advantages  which  virtue  has  over 
vice — honorable  over  dishonorable  conduct — an  advan- 
tage which  it  is  the  very  highest  interest  of  society  to 
cherish  and  enforce.  In  proportion  to  the  excellence  of 
a  man's  character  is,  and  ever  ought  to  be,  the  violence 
of  the  presumption  that  he  has  been  guilty  of  crime.  I 
appeal,  then,  to  Judge  Wilkinson's  character,  to  prove 
that  he  could  not  have  desired  this  unfortunate  contro- 
versy; that  it  is  impossible  he  should  have  been  guilty, 
under  the  circumstances  which  then  surrounded  him,  of 
the  crime  of  wilful  and  malicious  murder.  What,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  the  condition  of  the  conspirators?  Red- 
ding had  been  going  about  from  street  to  street,  like  Peter 
the  Hermit,  preaching  up  a  crusade  against  the  Mississip- 
pians.  Johnson,  like  Tecumseh — but,  no,  I  will  not 
compare  him  to  that  noble  warrior — like  an  Indian  run- 
ner, was  threading  each  path  in  the  city,  inciting  his  tribe 
to  dig  up  the  tomahawk  and  drive  it,  not  into  the  scalps, 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     67 

but  the  "  steaks  "  of  the  foe.     But  I  will  not  pursue  this 
point  at  greater  length. 

Sergeant  S.  Prentiss,  in  defense  of  Hon.  Edward  C. 
Wilkinson,  of  Mississippi,  and  others,  indicted  for  mur- 
der, Harrodsbiirg,  Ky.,  March,  1839. 

THE  PROOF  OF  GUILT  DEMANDED. 

What  evidence  then  will  a  jury  of  Englishmen  expect 
from  the  servants  of  the  Crown  of  England,  before  they 
deliver  up  a  brother  accused  before  them  to  ignominy 
and  death  ?  What  proof  will  their  conscience  require  ? 
What  will  their  plain  and  manly  understanding  accept 
of?  What  does  the  immemorial  custom  of  their  fathers, 
and  the  written  law  of  this  land  warrant  them  in  demand- 
ing?— nothing  less  in  any  case  of  blood,  than  the  clearest 
and  most  unequivocal  conviction  of  guilt. 

Lord  Erskine,  in  defense  of  Lord  George  Gordon. 

THE  HABEAS  CORPUS  ACT. 

First,  then,  how  stood  the  law  before  ?  Upon  this  part, 
it  would  be  a  parade  of  useless  learning  to  go  farther  back 
than  the  statute  of  Charles,  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act,  which 
is  so  justly  called  the  second  Magna  Charta  of  British 
liberty;  what  was  the  occasion  of  the  law?  the  arbitrary 
transportation  of  the  subject  beyond  the  realm;  that  base 
and  malignant  war,  which  the  odious  and  despicable 
minions  of  power  are  for  ever  ready  to  wage  against  all 
those  who  are  honest  and  bold  enough  to  despise,  to  ex- 
pose, and  to  resist  them. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Judge  Johnson,  Court  of  Ex- 
chequer, Feb.  4,  1805. 

HEIRS. 

Nemo  est  hcrrcs  vi^'cntis. 

No  one  can  be  iieir  during  the  life  of  his  ancestor. 


68     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

HESITATION. 

I  would  add,  that  if  he  had  seemed  to  hesitate,  it  was 
but  for  a  moment;  that  his  hesitation  was  Hke  the  pass- 
ing cloud  that  floats  across  the  morning  sun,  and  hides 
it  from  view,  and  does  so  for  a  moment  hide  it,  by  in- 
volving the  spectator,  without  even  approaching  the  face 
of  the  luminary. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Judge  Johnson. 

HOME. 

One  of  the  greatest  orators  of  England,  in  speaking  of 
the  protection  which  the  law  throws  around  the  poor 
man's  home,  says  that  "  all  the  powers  of  the  crown  dare 
not  enter  the  poor  man's  home ;  that  it  may  be  frail,  its 
roof  may  shake,  the  winds  of  Heaven  may  enter,  but  the 
King  himself  dare  not  put  a  foot  across  the  lowly 
threshold." 

Alfred  P.  Thorn,  in  Massey  v.  Pilot,  Norfolk,  Va.,  June 
27,  1895- 


A  home  in  ruins !  How  distressing  the  desolation ! 
All  sublunary  happiness  is  short-lived,  at  the  best.  That 
of  the  family  circle  is  not  exempt.  One  by  one  its  mem- 
bers may  be  summoned  to  other  spheres — to  take  part  in 
other  cares — to  put  on  other  relations.  Death  may  enter 
its  portal,  and  receive  from  its  number  its  victims.  In  ail 
this  there  is  pain,  but  grief  is  endurable  in  any  form  but 
that  of  dishonor.  Domus  arnica,  domus  optima — Home 
is  home,  though  never  so  homely.  The  best  home  for 
us  is  that  which  receives  us  with  the  warmest  heart,  and 
welcomes  us  with  the  most  cordial  hand.  Infra  paternos 
parietes — within  the  walls  of  the  family  mansion.  How 
happy,  how  joyous  are  these  words.  At  their  mention 
does  not  the  memory  revert,  involuntarily,  to  the  abode 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     69 

of  our  early  days,  where,  gathered  around  the  family 
fireside,  in  the  interchange  and  correspondence  of  love 
and  affection,  father,  mother,  brothers  and  sisters  con- 
stituted a  little  community  in  themselves.  Who,  if  we 
could,  would  not  be  a  child  again? 

John  Graham,  in  McFarland-Richardson  trial,  New 
York,  May,  1870. 

WHAT  IS  IN  THE  HOME. 

If  the  door  or  window  of  your  house  is  broken  for  an 
article  of  the  meanest  value,  you  may  take  the  life  of  the 
burglar.  It  is  only  your  house  and  its  material  contents 
that  are  in  danger,  but  so  tender  is  the  regard  of  the 
written  law  for  property,  that  you  may  arise  and  slay  to 
defend  it.  Do  your  dwellings  contain  nothing  more 
sacred  than  silver  or  gold  ?  Are  there  not  gems  this 
minute  in  the  circle  of  your  households,  whose  lustre  you 
would  not  have  tarnished,  or  their  presence  torn  away  for 
all  the  glittering  treasures  of  Golcondas,  the  Californias, 
and  the  Perus?  Wives  and  daughters  and  sisters  are 
there  and  the  loss  of  one  to  the  embrace  of  dishonor, 
would  rend  your  hearts  in  twain,  and  plant  a  poison  in 
the  cup  of  life,  which  would  never  cease  to  rankle  until 
the  grave  gave  you  peace. 

Daniel  IV.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  H.  C.  Black. 

FAMILY  HONOR. 

Who  can  estimate  the  value  of  family  honor?  Who 
shall  lay  a  price  on  domestic  happiness?  Who  shall  re- 
munerate you  for  the  stolen  and  defiled  members  of  your 
household?  As  well  might  you  attempt  to  fix  the  value 
of  a  lost  and  ruined  soul  in  hell.  "  What  will  a  man  not 
give  for  his  own  soul,"  and  will  he  not  give  the  same,  or 
even  a  higher  ransom,  if  need  be,  for  the  salvation  of 
wife,  mother,  daughter,  and  sister?     Without  them,   in 


70     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

their  purity,  the  regions  of  time  and  earth  would  be  filled 
with  fiery  tortures,  and  the  condition  of  the  fallen  spirits 
in  eternity  could  be  no  worse.  Can  you  pay  the  husband 
for  his  wife,  the  son  for  his  mother,  the  brother  for  his 
sister,  and  the  father  for  his  daughter?  Can  you  make 
atonement  to  the  heart-broken  woman  herself  for  violated 
vows  and  wanton  perfidy  ?  Can  she  or  any  of  those 
that  love  her  be  redeemed  to  their  original  estate  by  the 
assessment  of  damages  ?  A  division  of  property  between 
the  social  outlaw  and  his  prey  may  be  just,  but,  as  a  mode 
of  punishment,  it  is  vain  and  void  of  meaning.  Who, 
also,  would  have  such  gain?  If  a  judgment  was  taken 
in  favor  of  the  husband  or  father,  in  whose  behalf  an 
action  lies,  what  a  revolting  acquisition  to  his  fortune  it 
would  be  !  In  what  way  would  he  expend  it  ? 
Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  H.  C.  Black. 


Where  is  the  man  who  does  not  contemplate  the  honor 
of  his  family  as  it  flows  from  father  to  son  with  the  same 
reverence  and  attachment  with  which  he  would  contem- 
plate the  governmental  crown  as  it  passed  from  the  head 
of  the  incumbent  to  his  successors?  You,  all  of  you, 
know  the  loyalty  of  an  Englishman  to  his  government. 
Allegiance  was  never  more  strong  than  is  that  of  the  sub- 
ject there  to  the  sovereign.  And  if  attachment  like  that 
can  grow  up  between  individuals  and  the  government 
that  grinds  them  down,  how  much  stronger  must  be  the 
attachment  that  grows  up  between  members  of  the  same 
family ! 

John  Graham,  in  Sickles'  trial,  Washington,  Feb'y, 
1859. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     71 

THE  HOUSE. 

Domus  sua  cuiqiic  est  tutissimum  refugium. 
Every  man's  house  is  his  castle. 

HUMAN  IMPERFECTIONS. 

I  approach  and  come  to  this  great  question  with  that 
rectitude  and  perfect  fibre  of  conscience  which  the  law 
and  your  own  better  judgments  demand.  We  are  all, 
gentlemen  of  the  jury,  far,  very  far,  from  being  perfect. 
There  is  no  duty  which  men  are  ever  called  upon  to  per- 
form so  solemn  in  its  nature  as  that  of  passing  judgment 
upon  motives  of  their  fellow-beings.  The  poet  has  w^ell 
said,  and  I  repeat  it — 

"  In  men  whom  men  condemn  as  ill, 
I  find  so  much  of  goodness  still; 
In  men  whom  men  pronounce  divine, 
I  find  so  much  of  sin  and  blot, 
I  hesitate  to  draw  the  line 
Between  the  two,  where  God  has  not." 

Judge  Porter,  in  Bahcock  Conspiracy  case,  St.  Louis, 
Feb'y,  1876. 

FRAILTY  OF  HUMAN  NATURE. 

There  is  another  consideration  of  which  we  should  not 
be  unmindful.  We  are  all  conscious  of  the  infirmities  of 
our  nature — we  are  all  subject  to  them.  The  law  makes 
an  allowance  for  such  infirmities.  The  Author  of  our 
being  has  been  pleased  to  fashion  us  out  of  great  and 
mighty  elements,  which  make  us  but  a  little  lower  than 
the  angels ;  but  he  has  iningled  in  our  composition  weak- 
ness and  passions.  Will  he  punish  us  for  frailties  which 
nature  has  stamped  upon  us,  or  for  their  necessary  re- 
sults? The  distinction  between  these,  and  acts  that  pro- 
ceed from  a  wicked  and  malignant  heart,  is  founded  on 


72     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

eternal  justice;  and  in  the  words  of  the  Psahnist,  "He 
knoweth  our  frame — He  remembereth  that  we  are  dust." 
Shall  not  the  rule  He  has  established  be  good  enough  for 
us  to  judge  by? 

John  J.  Crittenden,  in  Matt  Ward  case,  Elizahethtown, 
Ky.,  April,  1854. 

IDIOCY  AND  LUNACY. 

Doth  not  the  idiot  eat?  Doth  not  the  idiot  drink? 
Doth  not  the  idiot  know  his  father  and  his  mother?  He 
does  all  this  because  he  is  a  man.  Doth  he  not  smile  and 
weep?  and  think  you  he  smiles  and  weeps  for  nothing? 
He  smiles  and  weeps  because  he  is  moved  by  human  joys 
and  sorrows,  and  exercises  his  reason,  however  imper- 
fectly. Hath  not  the  idiot  anger,  rage,  revenge?  Take 
from  him  his  food,  and  he  will  stamp  his  feet  and  throw 
his  chains  in  your  face.  Think  you  he  doth  this  for 
nothing?  He  does  it  all  because  he  is  a  man,  and  be- 
cause, however  imperfectly,  he  exercises  his  reason.  The 
lunatic  does  all  this,  and  if  not  quite  demented,  all  things 
else  that  man,  in  the  highest  pride  of  intellect,  does  or 
can  do.  He  only  does  them  in  a  different  way.  You 
may  pass  laws  for  his  government.  Will  he  conform? 
Can  he  conform  ?  What  cares  he  for  your  laws  ?  He 
will  not  even  plead ;  he  cannot  plead  his  disease  in  excuse. 

William  H.  Seward,  in  the  Freeman  case. 

THE  LAUGHTER  OF  IDIOCY. 

He  laughs  when  the  attorney-general's  bolts  would 
seem  to  rive  his  heart.  He  will  laugh  when  you  declare 
him  guilty.  When  the  judge  shall  proceed  to  the  last 
fatal  ceremony,  and  demand  what  he  has  to  say  why  the 
sentence  of  the  law  should  not  be  pronounced  upon  him, 
although  there  should  not  be  an  unmoistened  eye  in  this 
vast  assembly,  and  the  stern  voice  addressing  him  should 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     73 

tremble  with  emotion,  he  will  even  then  look  up  in  the 
face  of  the  Court  and  laugh,  from  the  irresistible  emo- 
tions of  a  shattered  mind,  delighted  and  lost  in  the  con- 
fused memory  of  absurd  and  ridiculous  associations. 
Follow  him  to  the  scaffold.  The  executioner  cannot  dis- 
turb the  calmness  of  the  idiot.  He  will  laugh  in  the 
agony  of  death.  Do  you  not  know  the  significance  of  this 
strange  and  unnatural  risibility?  It  is  a  proof  that  God 
does  not  forsake  even  the  poor  wretch  whom  we  pity  or 
despise.  There  are,  in  every  human  memory,  a  well  of 
joys  and  a  fountain  of  sorrows.  Disease  opens  wide  the 
one,  and  seals  up  the  other  forever. 

William  H.  Seward,  in  the  Freeman  case. 

IMAGINATION. 

The  difficulty  is  that  to  do  something  for  those  to  whom 
our  affections  are  pledged  makes  us  believe  that  imagina- 
tion is  fact. 

Attorney  General  H.  M.  Knozdton,  in  People  v.  Sulli- 
van et  al.,  Loivell,  Mass.,  June  14,  1895. 

IMPLICATION    AND    EXPRESSION. 

Expressio  eoriim  qiicB  tacite  insunt  nihil  operatur. 
The  expression  of  what  is  tacitly  implied  is  inoperative. 

IMPOSSIBILITIES  AND  THE  LAW. 

Lex  non  cogit  ad  impossihilia. 

The  law  does  not  seek  to  compel  a  man  to  do  that  which 
he  cannot  possibly  perform. 

INDICTMENTS. 

The  doctrine  of  Milton,  as  applied  to  angelic  existences, 
that,  vital  in  every  part,  they  cannot,  but  "  by  annihilation, 
die,"  is  not  true  in  its  application  to  indictments.  They 
are  mortal  in  every  part  and  the  destruction  of  one  part 
of  a  count  is  the  destruction  of  all  parts  of  the  same  count. 


74     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

One  count,  it  is  true,  does  not  destroy  another,  when  they 
are  at  all  compatible  with  each  other,  and  when  an  elec- 
tion has  been  made ;  but  when  the  charges  contained  in 
an  indictment  are,  as  in  this  case,  totally  inconsistent,  if 
the  jury  should  find  a  verdict  of  guilty  upon  the  indict- 
ment, generally,  it  will  be  subject  to  a  motion  in  arrest 
of  judgment,  and  it  can  never  stand. 

David  Paul  Brown,  in  defense  of  Alexander  W. 
Holmes. 

To  this  indictment,  gentlemen,  she  has  pleaded  "  not 
guilty ;  "  and  this  puts  the  prosecution  upon  the  proof  of 
every  material  allegation  necessary  to  sustain  the  charge ; 
and  this  proof  must  be  so  clear  that  you  will  be  able  to 
say,  upon  your  oaths,  that  her  guilt  is  established  beyond 
a  reasonable  doubt.     Otherwise  you  must  acquit  her. 

James  Hughes,  Trial  of  Mary  Harris,  Washington, 
D.  C,  July,  1865. 

INDIVIDUALS. 

A  privileged  order  in  a  state  may,  in  some  sort,  be  com- 
pared to  a  solitary  individual  separated  from  the  society, 
and  unaided  by  the  reciprocal  converse,  affections  or  sup- 
port of  his  fellowmen.  It  is  like  a  tree  standing  singly 
on  a  high  hill,  and  exposed  to  the  rude  concussions  of 
every  varying  blast,  devoid  of  fruit  or  foliage.  If  you 
plant  trees  around  it  to  shade  it  from  the  inclemency  of 
the  blighting  tempest,  and  secure  to  it  its  adequate  supply 
of  sun  and  moisture,  it  quickly  assumes  all  the  luxuriance 
of  vegetation,  and  proudly  rears  its  head  aloft,  fortified 
against  the  noxious  gales  which  agitate  and  wither  the 
unprotected  brambles  lying  without  the  verge  of  the 
plantation. 

John  P.  Curran.  Trial  of  Drogheda  Defenders,  April 
23,  1794' 


IVIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     75 

INFORMERS  CHARACTERIZED. 

Even  that  adamantine  chain,  that  bound  the  integrity 
of  man  to  the  throne  of  eternal  justice,  is  solved  and 
molten  in  the  breath  that  issues  from  the  informer's 
mouth ;  conscience  swings  from  her  moorings,  and  the 
appalled  and  affrighted  juror  consults  his  own  safety  in 
the  surrender  of  the  victim : — 

"  Et  quae  sibi  quisque  timebat, 
Unius  in  miseri  exitium  conversa  tulere." 

Informers  are  w^orshipped  in  the  temple  of  justice,  even 
as  the  devil  has  been  worshipped  by  Pagans  and  savages 
— even  so  in  this  wicked  country,  is  the  informer  an 
object  of  judicial  idolatry — even  so  is  he  soothed  by  the 
music  of  human  groans — even  so  is  he  placated  and  in- 
censed by  the  fumes  and  by  the  blood  of  human  sacrifices. 
Jolin  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Finnerty,  Dec.  22,  1797. 

INHERITANCES. 

Non  jus  sed  seisina  facit  stipitem. 
It  is  not  the  right  but  the  seizin,  which  makes  a  person 
the  stock  from  which  the  inheritance  must  descend. 

Hcereditas  niinqnam  ascendit. 

The  right  of  inheritance  never  lineally  ascends. 

THE  PLEA  OF  INNOCENCE. 

That  great  interpreter  of  nature  gives  a  picture  in  one 
of  his  plays  of  the  innocent  Prince  Arthur  begging  for 
his  eyes  when  Hubert  comes  in  with  irons  to  be  heated 
red  hot  to  burn  them  both  out,  and  the  piteous  plea  of 
innocent  boyhood  is  uttered,  and  finally  prevails.  He 
says:  "Oh,  Hubert!  Just  you  with  hot  irons  burn  out 
both  mine  eyes,  these  eyes  that  never  did,  and  never  will, 
frown  on  you.     When  your  head  did  but  ache,  I  knit  my 


76     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

handkerchief  about  your  brow,  the  best  I  had.  The 
princess  wrought  it  me,  and  I  did  never  ask  it  of  you 
again,  and  with  my  hand  at  midnight  held  your  aching 
head,  and,  hke  the  watchful  minutes  through  the  hour, 
still  and  anon,  cheered  up  the  heavy  time."  I  will  not  be 
accurate  in  the  quotation.  Soon  the  attendants  come  in. 
He  says  :  "  Oh,  Hubert !  My  eyes  are  out,  even  with  the 
fierce  looks  of  these  bloody  men.  Drive  but  these  men 
away,  and  I  will  sit  as  still  as  a  lamb ;  I  will  not  move, 
nor  wince,  nor  say  a  word,  nor  look  upon  the  iron  an- 
grily," and  he  pleads  in  childish  innocence  until  finally 
the  attendants  go  back  and  after  a  time  the  murderous 
ear  of  Hubert  is  won,  and  the  young  and  beautiful  prince 
is  spared  for  the  time  being. 

State's  Attorney  Frank  M.  Nye,  in  People  v.  Hay  ward, 
Minneapolis,  Minn.,  1895. 

INSANITY. 

The  art  of  the  healer  stops  at  the  threshold  of  the 
diseased  mind,  and  sinks  down  baffled  and  helpless  in  the 
presence  of  the  delirium  of  woe. 

Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  H.  C.  Black. 


The  bolder  and  bloodier  the  murder  the  better  and  the 
more  easy  the  escape.  On  the  slightest  provocation  and 
most  flimsy  pretext,  a  throat  is  deliberately  cut  or  a 
head  blown  oflf,  and  the  assassin  is  suddenly  discovered 
to  have  acted  under  an  "  insane  impulse  "  that  over- 
whelmed his  "  will  power,"  and  a  jury  of  intelligent  but 
credulous  gentlemen  so  write  it  in  the  verdict. 

Gen.  Thomas  M.  Broivn,  in  Foster-Hatfield  case,  In- 
dianapolis, Ind.,  Jan.,  1872. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     77 

If  he  killed  James  Fisk,  and  that  killing  was  not  justifi- 
able homicide,  was  the  prisoner  sane  or  insane,  within 
the  meaning  of  the  statute,  passed  in  1830,  and  which  has 
remained  upon  the  statute  books  of  the  state  ever  since, 
in  these  words :  "  No  person  shall  be  punished  for  any 
act  committed  while  in  a  state  of  insanity." 

Lyman  Tremain,  Trial  of  Edward  S.  Stokes,  New 
York,  Oct.  2y,  1873. 


And  this  is  evidence  of  insanity?  It  is  evidence,  gen- 
tlemen of  the  jury,  of  sanity.  It  is  woman's  nature  speak- 
ing out.  When  Lady  Macbeth  was  reproving  her  hus- 
band for  his  irresolution,  she  said,  "  I  have  done  the  deed, 
but  the  gray-haired  Duncan  resembled  my  father  as  he 
slept."  Proud,  cruel,  ambitious  woman.  Still  she  was 
a  woman.  So  Mary  Harris,  having  accomplished  her 
purpose,  and  when  she  sees  before  her  the  bleeding  evi- 
dence of  her  guilt,  suffers  the  pangs  of  remorse.  This  is 
sanity.     Can  you  interpret  it  to  be  evidence  of  insanity? 

U.  S.  District  Attorney  Edward  C.  Carrington,  Trial 
of  Mary  Harris. 


An  insane  person  is  one  who,  at  the  time  of  committing 
the  act,  labored  under  such  a  defect,  of  reason  as  not  to 
know  the  nature  and  quality  of  the  act  he  was  doing, 
or  if  he  did  know  it,  did  not  know  he  was  doing  what 
was  wrong;  and  the  question  is  not  whether  the  accused 
knew  the  difference  between  right  and  wrong  generally, 
but  whether  he  knew  the  difference  between  right  and 
wrong  in  regard  to  the  very  act  with  which  he  is  charged. 
If  some  controlling  disease  was,  in  truth,  the  acting  power 
within  him,  which  he  could  not  resist,  or  if  he  had  not  a 


78     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

sufficient  use  of  his  reason  to  control  the  passions  which 
prompted  him,  he  is  not  responsible.  But  it  must  be  ab- 
solute dispossession  of  the  free  and  natural  agency  of  the 
mind. 

William  H.  Sezvard,  in  the  Freeman  case. 

INSANITY  AND  DELUSION. 

Delusion  does  not  always  attend  insanity,  but  when 
found  it  is  the  most  unequivocal  of  all  proofs.  I  have 
already  observed,  that  melancholy  is  the  first  stage  of 
madness  and  long  furnished  the  name  for  insanity.  In 
the  case  of  Hatfield,  who  fired  at  the  king  in  Drury  Lane 
Theatre,  Lord  Erskine,  his  counsel,  demonstrated  that 
insanity  did  not  consist  in  the  absence  of  any  of  the 
intellectual  faculties,  but  in  delusion  and  that  an  offender 
was  irresponsible,  if  his  criminal  acts  were  the  immediate, 
unqualified  offspring  of  such  delusion.  Erskine  there 
defined  a  delusion  to  consist  in  deductions  from  the  im- 
movable  assumption  of  the  matters  as  realities,  either 
without  any  foundation  whatever,  or  so  distorted  and  dis- 
figured by  fancy  as  to  be  nearly  the  same  thing  as  their 
creation. 

William  H.  Seward,  in  the  Freeman  case. 


1  should  pronounce  insanity  to  be  a  derangement  of  the 
mind,  character  and  conduct,  resulting  from  bodily  dis- 
ease. I  take  this  word  derangement,  because  it  is  one 
in  common  every  day  use.  We  all  understand  what  is 
meant  when  it  is  said  that  anything  is  ranged  or  arranged. 
The  houses  on  a  street  are  ranged,  if  built  upon  a  straight 
line.  The  fences  on  your  farms  are  ranged.  A  tower, 
if  justly  built,  is  ranged ;  that  is,  it  is  ranged  by  the 
plummet.     It   rises  in   a  perpendicular  range   from  the 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     79 

earth.  A  file  of  men  marching  in  a  straight  Hne  are  in 
a  range.  "  Range  yourselves,  men,"  though  not  exactly 
artistical,  is  not  an  uncommon  word  of  command.  Now 
what  do  we  mean  when  we  use  the  word  "deranged?" 
Manifestly  that  a  thing  is  not  ranged,  is  not  arranged,  is 
out  of  range.  If  the  houses  on  the  street  be  built  irregu- 
larly, they  are  deranged.  If  the  fences  be  inclined  to  the 
right  or  left,  they  are  deranged.  If  there  be  an  unequal 
pressure  on  either  side,  the  tower  will  lean,  that  is,  it 
will  be  deranged.  If  the  file  of  men  become  irregular, 
the  line  is  deranged.  So  if  a  man  be  insane. 
William  H.  Seward,  in  the  Freeman  case. 

INSANITY  AND  DRUNKENNESS. 

Before  proceeding  further,  it  is  proper  to  dispose  of 
one  branch  of  the  defendant's  case,  and  I  shall  do  so  in  a 
word.  Drunkenness  is  not  insanity.  One  who  commits 
a  crime  when  voluntarily  intoxicated  is  not  excused,  but 
held  to  the  fullest  measure  of  accountability.  Such  is 
and  always  has  been  the  law.  To  hold  otherwise,  in  this 
day  of  bar-rooms  and  saloons,  would  be  monstrous. 
Drunkenness  in  no  sense  mitigates  crime  purposely  and 
intentionally  committed.  The  learned  gentlemen  who 
have  so  ably  conducted  this  defense  assume,  however, 
that  drunkenness  is  only  voluntary,  in  a  legal  sense,  when 
the  person  gets  into  that  condition  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
paring himself  for  the  commission  of  an  act.  This  posi- 
tion has  the  single  merit  of  novelty ;  it  is  fortified  by 
no  reason,  and  supported  by  no  authority. 

Thomas  M.  Broivn,  in  Foster-Hatfield  trial,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.,  J  any,  1872. 

DEFENSE   OF   INSANITY. 

How  often  do  you  hear  this  defense  of  insanity?  It 
is  relied  on  in  every  desperate  case  of  murder,  and  it  is 


80     IMANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

generally  treated  with  contempt  by  honest  and  intelligent 
jurors.  If  some  poor,  trembling  cri  ninal  in  rags  and 
tatters  should  dare  to  make  such  a  defense  as  this,  it 
would  be  hooted  out  of  court.  Why  should  a  different 
rule  be  adopted  in  the  case  of  Mary  Harris  ?  Why  was 
she  not  subjected  to  the  inspection  of  the  jury?  For 
your  custom  is,  when  the  defense  of  insanity  is  made  to 
examine  the  prisoner  carefully  for  yourselves.  When- 
ever I  hear  this  defense  of  insanity,  it  reminds  me  of  a 
remark  that  was  made  to  me  by  my  predecessor,  Mr. 
Fendall.  He  had  just  purchased  a  book  upon  homicide. 
He  met  old  Colonel  Benton  on  the  street,  when  the  latter 
asked  him  what  new  work  he  had.  He  replied,  "  Sir,  I 
have  a  work  on  homicide."  "  Why,"  said  Colonel  Ben- 
ton, "  your  money  has  been  misspent.  There  are  only 
two  defenses  in  cases  of  homicide  in  this  country — self- 
defense  and  insanity."  Colonel  Benton  was  right,  gen- 
tlemen of  the  jury.  If  a  man  injures  another,  and  the 
injured  party  kills  him,  he  pleads  self-defense.  If  a  man 
kills  another,  who  has  never  injured  him,  it  is  said  that 
there  was  no  motive,  and  therefore  he  was  insane. 

U.  S.  District  Attorney  Edward  C.  Carrington,  Trial 
of  Mary  Harris. 


And  now  what  is  insanity?  Many  learned  men  have 
defined  it  for  us,  but  I  prefer  to  convey  my  idea  of  it  in 
the  simplest  manner.  Insanity  is  a  disease  of  the  body, 
and  I  doubt  not,  of  the  brain.  The  world  is  astonished 
to  find  it  so.  They  thought  for  almost  six  thousand 
years,  that  it  was  an  aflfection  of  the  mind  only.  Is  it 
strange  that  the  discovery  should  have  been  made  so 
late  ?  You  know  that  it  is  easier  to  move  a  burden  upon 
two  smooth  rails  on  a  level  surface  than  over  the  rugged 
ground.     It  has  taken  almost  six  thousand  years  to  learn 


IVIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     81 

that.  But  moralists  argiie  that  insanity  shall  not  be  ad- 
mitted as  a  physical  disease,  because  it  would  expose  so- 
ciety to  danger.  .  .  .  It  is  the  last  subterfuge  of  the 
guilty,  and  so,  is  too  often  abused.  But,  however  ob- 
noxious to  suspicion  this  defense  is,  there  have  been  cases 
where  it  was  true ;  and  when  true,  it  is.  of  all  pleas,  the 
most  perfect  and  complete  defense  that  can  be  offered  in 
any  human  tribunal.  Our  Saviour  forgave  his  judges  be- 
cause they  knew  not  what  they  did.  The  insane  man  who 
has  committed  a  crime  knew  not  what  he  did.  If  this 
being,  dyed  with  human  blood,  be  insane,  you  and  I,  and 
even  the  children  of  our  affections,  are  not  more  guiltless 
than  he. 

William  H.  Seward,  in  the  Freeman  case. 

MAN'S   INSTINCTS. 

Man  was  made  erect,  and  to  walk  erect  upon  the  face 
of  the  earth,  and  when  the  immortal  soul  was  breathed 
into  his  nostrils,  he  was  invested  with  dignity  of  char- 
acter, and  with  instincts  to  protect  that  dignity  of  char- 
acter ;  and  in  the  same  way  in  which  his  instincts  tell  him 
that  his  God  lives,  he  is  told  to  defend  his  dignity,  even 
to  the  extent  of  his  own  or  his  neighbor's  life. 

John   Graham,   in   Sickles'   trial,    Washington,   Feb'y, 

1859- 

FALSE    DESCRIPTIONS   IN   AN   INSTRUMENT. 

Falsa  dcmonstratio  non  nocet. 

Mere  false  description  does  not  make  an  instrument 
inoperative. 

THE    CONSTRUCTION    OF    INSTRUMENTS. 

Qiioties  in  verbis  nulla  est  ambiguilas,  ibi  nulla  ex- 
positio  contra  verba  fienda  est. 

In  the  absence  of  ambiguity  no  exposition  shall  be  made 
which  is  opposed  to  the  express  words  of  the  instrument. 


SS     iNIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

Benignce  faciendcc  sunt  interpretationes,  propter  sim- 
plicitatem  laicorum,  lit  res  magis  valeat  quam  pereat;  et 
verba  intentioni,  non  e  contra,  dehent  inservire. 

A  liberal  construction  should  be  put  upon  written  in- 
struments, so  as  to  uphold  them,  if  possible,  and  carry 
into  effect  the  intention  of  the  parties. 


Quihaeretin  I  iter  a  haeret  in  cortice. 
He  who  considers  merely  the  letter  of  an  instrument, 
goes  but  skin  deep  into  its  meaning. 


Contemporanea  expositio  est  optima  et  fortissima  in 
lege. 

The  best  and  surest  mode  of  expounding  an  instrument 
is  by  referring  to  the  time  when,  and  the  circumstances 
under  which,  it  was  made. 

INTENT. 

Before  we  approach  the  question  of  Schuyler  Haugh- 
ey's  intent  let  us  see  what  intent  means.  Intent,  gentle- 
men, is  the  fruit  of  understanding  and  reason.  A  som- 
nambulist, walking  in  his  sleep,  has  no  intent.  Before  a 
man  can  intend  to  do  a  thing,  he  must  understand  clearly 
what  it  is  that  he  intends  to  do.  If  I  tell  you  a  falsehood 
believing  it  to  be  true,  I  do  not  intend  to  deceive  you. 
But  if  I  tell  you  a  lie,  knowing  it  to  be  a  lie,  I  do  intend  to 
deceive  you. 

So  out  of  intention  grows  the  crime.  Why  are  insane 
men  known  to  be  insane?  Why  are  they  never  tried  for 
acts  for  which  sane  men  are  tried  ?  Because  intent  is  not 
back  of  their  deeds.     Intent  is  the  very  heart  of  offense. 


]\IANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     83 

If  I  borrow  your  money,  believing  that  I  can  pay  it  back, 
and  intending  to  pay  it  back,  but,  through  misfortune,  do 
not,  I  commit  no  crime.  But  if  I  get  your  money  by  false 
devices,  knowing  I  can  not  pay  it  back  and  intending  not 
to  pay  it  back,  I  do  commit  a  crime.  You  lose  your 
money  in  either  case,  but  I  commit  a  crime  in  one  case, 
because  guilty  intent  is  there;  I  do  not  commit  a  crime 
in  the  other  case,  because  guilty  intent  is  absent. 

A.  J.  Beveridge,  for  defense  in  People  v.  Haiighey,  In- 
dianapolis, Ind. 


Intent,  gentlemen,  is  the  basis  of  all  crime.  It  is  one 
of  the  facts  you  must  find  before  you  can  make  a  verdict 
of  guilty.  Moreover,  there  is  a  presumption  of  innocence 
that  stands  as  a  bulwark  of  protection  before  every  citi- 
zen. It  is  incorporated  in  the  law  and  stands  for  his 
safety  until  it  is  overcome  by  the  evidence  in  the  case. 
This  presumption  is  made  by  the  law  as  a  part  of  the 
defendant's  defense,  which  the  government  must  remove 
by  the  testimony. 

F.  N.  Chambers,  for  defense  in  People  v.  Haughey. 


Thus,  you  will  see,  gentlemen,  that  the  keystone  which 
holds  up  the  arch  of  this  entire  charge,  is  criminal  in- 
tent. So  that  the  question,  "  Did  he  do  these  things  with 
which  he  is  charged  ?  "  is  the  first  and  smallest  question 
you  have  to  answer;  and  the  question,  "  Did  he  do  what 
he  did,  knowing  that  he  was  committing  a  crime  and  in- 
tending to  commit  a  crime?  "  is  the  second  and  the  great 
question  you  have  to  answer.  In  fact,  this  whole  case 
narrows  down  to  just  this  and  nothing  more:  Did  this 
boy,  with  the  thoughts,  the  knowledge,  the  guilty  inten- 


84     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

tion  of  a  criminal,  purposely  commit  a  crime?  That  is, 
did  he  have  the  same  knowledge,  the  same  feelings,  the 
same  infamous  design  that  a  burglar  has  who  with  mask, 
jimmy  and  revolver  rifles  a  house,  and  takes  a  life?  For 
you  must  find  that  precisely  the  same  kind  of  purpose 
and  intention  that  is  in  the  mind  of  the  highwayman  or 
robber,  controlled  and  directed  this  boy,  before  you  can, 
under  the  law,  declare  him  guilty. 

A.  J.  Beveridge,  for  defense  in  People  v.  Haughey. 

GOOD    INTENTIONS. 

Plain  good  intention  which  is  as  easily  discovered  at 
the  first  view  as  fraud  is  surely  detected  at  the  last,  is, 
let  me  say  of  no  mean  force  in  the  government  of  man- 
kind. Genuine  simplicity  of  heart  is  a  healing  and  ce- 
menting principle. 

Edmund  Burke,  Speech  on  Conciliation  with  America. 

INTERPRETATION. 

Acta  exteriora  indicant  interiora  secreta. 
Acts  indicate  the  intention. 


Ex  antecedentibus  et  consequenfibus  fit  optima  inter- 
pretatio. 

A  passage  will  be  best  interpreted  by  reference  to  that 
which  precedes  and  follows  it. 

CIVIL   AND    CRIMINAL   INVESTIGATIONS. 

The  law  of  property  changes  with  new  objects,  and 
becomes  intricate  as  it  extends  its  dominion ;  but  crimes 
must  be  of  the  same  easy  investigation :  they  consist 
wholly  in  intention,  and  the  more  they  are  multiplied  by 
the  policy  of  those  who  govern,  the  more  absolutely  the 


MAxNUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     85 

public  freedom  depends  upon  the  peoples'  preserving  the 
entire  administration  of  criminal  justice  to  themselves. 

Lord  Erskine,  Argument  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench, 
Eng.,  in  support  of  the  rights  of  juries,  Nov.  15,  1784. 

THE  IRISH. 

I  would  not  say  a  word  against  the  Catholic  church  or 
the  Irish  race.  There  are  many  great  men  who  have 
been  of  Irish  descent,  but  there  have  also  been  some  bad 
men.  The  freedom  of  old  Ireland  was  lost  through  the 
treachery  of  her  own  sons. 

District  Attorney  John  Woodzvard,  in  People  v.  Rainey, 
at  Mayville,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  2y,  1895. 

ISSUES. 

We  are  brought  face  to  face,  man  to  man,  soul  to  soul, 
upon  the  vital  issue  of  this  case.  I  stated  to  you  certain 
principles  of  law.  Over  that  ground  I  do  not  propose  to 
travel  again.  The  law  in  this  case,  as  in  every  other  case, 
is  to  be  taken  from  the  court. 

Attorney  General  H.  M.  Knozvlton,  in  People  v.  Sulli- 
van et  al.,  Lozi'ell,  Mass.,  June  14,  1895. 

JEALOUSY. 

A  woman  who  loves  becomes  jealous  upon  very  slight 
ground. 

"  Trifles  light  as  air 
Are  to  the  jealous  confirmation  strong 
As  proof  of  holy  writ." 

Henry  N.  Spaan,  for  prosecution,  in  People  v.  Hin- 
shazv.  Danville,  Ind.,  Oct.  i,  1895. 

JEOPARDY. 

Nemo  debet  his  vexari  pro  una  et  cad  cm  causa. 
It  is  the  rule  of  law  that  a  man  shall  not  be  twice  vexed 
for  one  and  the  same  cause. 


86     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

A  HUMAN  JEWEL. 

The  man  possessing  a  jewel  of  inestimable  worth,  who 
wished,  in  truth,  to  guard  its  value  and  preserve  its  lustre, 
would  wear  it  next  the  heart ;  but  the  plaintiff  threw  this 
gaudy,  zvorthless  trinket  here  and  there,  to  be  picked  up 
by  every  casual  finder,  or  let  it  hang  so  loosely  from  his 
person  as  to  invite  and,  ready  as  it  were,  to  bless  the  silly 
hand  which,  tempted  by  its  glitter,  might  feel  disposed 
to  rid  him  of  the  contemptible  embarrassment,  and  snip 
it  from  his  side.  It  has  been  lost,  and  you  are  called 
upon  to  estimate  the  injury  and  to  reprize  the  loss.  You 
will  reflect  how  far  it  was  worth  the  keeping;  you  will 
consider  what  pains  he  took  to  guard  it ;  you  will  appre- 
ciate the  value  of  the  article,  and  then  determine  upon 
what  grounds,  and  to  what  extent,  the  plaintiff  merits  the 
interposition  of  a  jury. 

Thomas  Qiiin,  in  case  of  Massy  v.  Headfort,  County 
Clare,  Ire.,  Jtdy  2'j,  1804. 

THE  DUTY  OF  A  JUDGE. 

The  judge  in  open  court  has  no  compulsion  brought 
upon  him  ;  he  is  independent ;  the  Crown  which  appointed 
him  to  his  ofiice  cannot  remove  him ;  he  is  not  expected 
to  deliver  a  judgment  in  accordance  with  any  feeling  he 
may  have,  but  one  which  is  wholly  in  accordance  with 
well-known  and  recognized  rules  of  law. 

John  Bright,  Speech  at  Edinburgh,  Nov.  5,  1868. 

JUDGES. 

Nemo  debet  esse  judex  in  propria  sua  causa. 
No  man  can  be  judge  in  his  own  cause. 


Judges  are  but  men,  and  in  all  ages  have  shown  a  full 
share  of  frailty. 

Charles  Sumner,  Speech  on  Judicial  Tribunals. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     87 

Who  and  what  are  the  judges  of  courts  ?  They  are  the 
representatives  of  the  law ;  the  representatives,  so  far 
as  human,  erring  nature  can  be,  of  eternal  and  impartial 
right. 

Benjamin  F.  Butler,  in  Elevated  R.  R.  case.  New  York, 
J  any,  1880. 

JUDGES  AND  JURIES. 

No — God  forbid !  Juries  ought  to  take  their  law  from 
the  bench  only ;  but  it  is  our  business  that  they  should 
hear  nothing  from  the  bench  but  what  is  agreeable  to  the 
principles  of  the  constitution.  The  jury  are  to  hear  the 
judge,  the  judge  is  to  hear  the  law  where  it  speaks  plain; 
where  it  does  not,  he  is  to  hear  the  legislature.  As  I  do 
not  think  these  opinions  of  the  judges  to  be  agreeable  to 
those  principles,  I  wish  to  take  the  only  method,  in  which 
they  can  or  ought  to  be  corrected,  by  a  bill. 

Edmund  Burke,  Speech  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
March,  1771. 

JUDGES  AND  JURISDICTION. 

Boni  judicis  est  ampliare  jurisdictionem. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  judge,  when  requisite,  to  amplify 
the  limits  of  his  jurisdiction. 

BRITISH  JUDGES. 

British  judges  hold  their  station,  removable  upon  de- 
linquency, ])unishable  upon  guilt,  but  fearless  of  power 
if  thev  discharge  their  trust ;  liable  to  no  seducement,  and 
with  full  time  and  authority  to  execute  their  functions  for 
the  common  good  of  the  country  and  for  their  own  glory. 

Charles  James  Fox,  Speech  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
Dec.  I,  1783. 


88     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

THE  HONESTY  OF  JUDGES. 

De  Ude  et  officio  judicis  non  recipitur  qucsstio,  sed  de 
scicntia  sive  sit  error  juris  sive  facti. 

The  bona  fides  and  honesty  of  purpose  of  a  judge  can- 
not be  questioned ;  but  his  decision  may  be  impugned  for 
error  either  of  law  or  of  fact. 


Jefiferson  said  that  "  judges  are  as  honest  as  other  men 
and  not  more  so." 

Abraham  Lincoln,  Reply  to  Douglas,  fifth  debate, 
Galesburg,  III,  Oct.  7,  1858. 

FINAL  JUDGMENT. 

But  there  comes  a  day  when  the  one  who  murdered  her 
peace,  and  the  one  who  now  seeks  to  murder  her  Hfe,  will 
both  meet  their  victim  in  the  presence  of  the  Great  Judge, 
and  in  a  court  above  the  sun,  where  misfortune  is  not  a 
crime,  and  where  earthly  distinctions  fade  away ;  where 
the  poor  are  rich,  and  the  merciful  blessed;  where  the 
feeble  are  strong,  and  the  oppressor's  rod  is  broken;  and 
in  that  awful  presence  they  will  be  called  to  answer  why, 
at  their  hands,  Mary  Harris  was  beaten  and  scourged  to 
madness  and  death. 

Daniel  IV.  Voorhees,  Trial  of  Mary  Harris,  Washing- 
ton, July,  1865. 

THE  INTELLIGENT  JUDGMENT  OF  MANKIND. 

Why,  sir,  the  jurisprudence  of  the  world  is  against 
slavery ;  the  literature  of  the  world  is  against  slavery ; 
the  civilization  of  the  world  is  against  slavery.  Mr.  Web- 
ster once  said,  speaking  of  another  subject,  "  The  light- 
ning is  strong;  the  tornado  is  strong;  the  earthquake  is 
strong;  but  there  is  something  stronger  than  all  of  these; 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     89 

it  is  the  enlightened  judgment  of  mankind."  That,  too, 
is  against  slavery.  A  great  man  has  said,  "  Let  me  write 
the  songs  of  a  people,  and  I  care  not  who  makes  their 
laws;  "  and  the  songs,  the  poetry,  and  even  the  fine  arts 
of  the  world,  are  against  slavery. 

Roscoe  Conkling,  Speech  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, Jan'y  30,  1861. 

JUDGMENT  WITHOUT  TRIAL. 

I  feel  that  the  night  of  unenlightened  wretchedness  is 
fast  approaching,  when  a  man  shall  be  judged  before  he 
is  tried — when  the  advocate  shall  be  libelled  for  discharg- 
ing his  duty  to  his  client ;  that  night  of  human  nature, 
when  a  man  shall  be  hunted  down,  not  because  he  is  a 
criminal,  but  because  he  is  obnoxious. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Dr.  Drennan,  Dublin,  June  25, 
1794- 

JUDGMENTS. 

Let  me  remind  you,  my  lords,  while  your  determination 
is  yet  in  your  power,  "  Dum  versatur  adluic  infra  pene- 
tralia Vesta,"  that  on  that  ocean  of  the  future  you  must 
set  your  judgment  afloat.  And  future  ages  will  assume 
the  same  authority  which  you  have  assumed ;  posterity 
feel  the  same  emotions  which  you  have  felt,  when  your 
little  hearts  have  beaten,  and  your  infant  eyes  have  over- 
flowed, at  reading  the  sad  history  of  the  sufiferings  of  a 
Russell  or  a  Sidney. 

John  P.  Ciirrau,  Trial  of  A.  H.  Rozuan,  Jan'y  29,  1794. 

JUDICIAL  DECISIONS. 

Judicial  decisions  have  two  uses — first,  to  absolutely 
determine  the  case  decided ;  and  secondly  to  indicate  to 
the  public  how  similar  cases  will  be  decided  when  they 


90     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

arise.     For  the  latter  use  they  are  called  "  precedents," 
and  "  authorities." 
Abraham  Lincoln,  Speech  at  Springfield,  III.,  Jan'y 

2$,  1857- 

RESPECT  FOR  JUDICIAL  DECISIONS. 

What  security  have  you  for  your  property,  for  your 
reputation,  and  for  your  personal  rights,  if  the  courts  are 
not  upheld,  and  their  decisions  respected  when  once  firmly 
rendered  by  the  highest  tribunal  known  to  the  Constitu- 
tion? I  do  not  choose,  therefore,  to  go  into  any  argu- 
ment with  Mr.  Lincoln  in  reviewing  the  various  decisions 
which  the  Supreme  Court  has  made,  either  upon  the  Dred 
Scott  case,  or  any  other. 

Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Speech  at  Chicago,  Feb'y  9, 
1858. 

JUDICIAL  NOTICE. 

De  non  apparentibus  et  non  existentibns  eadem  est  ra- 
tio. 

Where  the  court  cannot  take  judicial  notice  of  a  fact, 
it  is  the  same  as  if  the  fact  had  not  existed. 

THE  JUDICIAL  SYSTEM  OF  ILLINOIS. 

I  am  aware  that  once  an  eminent  lawyer  of  this  city, 
now  no  more,  said  that  the  State  of  Illinois  had  the  most 
perfect  judicial  system  in  the  world,  subject  to  but  one 
exception,  which  could  be  cured  by  a  slight  amendment; 
and  that  amendment  was  to  so  change  the  law  as  to  allow 
an  appeal  from  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Illinois,  on  all  constitutional  questions,  to  two  justices  of 
the  peace. 

Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Speech  at  Chicago,  July  9,  1858. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     91 

JUDICIAL  TRIBUNALS. 

It  was  a  judicial  tribunal  which  condemned  Socrates 
to  drink  the  fatal  hemlock,  and  which  pushed  the  Saviour 
barefoot  over  the  pavements  of  Jerusalem,  bending  be- 
neath the  cross.  It  was  a  judicial  tribunal  which,  against 
the  testimony  and  entreaties  of  her  father,  surrendered 
the  fair  \'irginia  as  a  slave ;  which  arrested  the  teachings 
of  the  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  and  sent  him  in  bonds 
from  Judea  to  Rome ;  which,  in  the  name  of  the  old 
religion,  adjured  the  saints  and  fathers  of  the  Christian 
Church  to  death  in  all  its  most  dreadful  forms  and  which 
afterwards  in  the  name  of  the  new  religion,  enforced  the 
tortures  of  the  Inquisition,  amidst  the  shrieks  and  agonies 
of  its  victims ;  which  compelled  Galileo  to  declare  in 
solemn  denial  of  the  great  truth  he  had  disclosed,  that 
the  earth  did  not  move  around  the  sun. 

It  was  a  judicial  tribunal  which,  in  France  during  the 
long  reign  of  her  monarchs,  lent  itself  to  be  the  instru- 
ment of  every  tyranny,  as  during  the  brief  Reign  of  Ter- 
ror it  did  not  hesitate  to  stand  forth  the  unpitying  ac- 
cessory of  the  unpitying  guillotine.  Ay,  sir,  it  was  a 
judicial  tribunal  in  England  surrounded  by  all  the  forms 
of  the  law,  which  sanctioned  every  despotic  caprice  of 
Henry  the  Eighth,  from  the  unjust  divorce  of  his  queen 
to  the  beheading  of  Sir  Thomas  More ;  which  lighted  the 
fires  of  persecution  that  glowed  at  Oxford  and  Smith- 
field,  over  the  cinders  of  Latimer,  Ridley,  and  John 
Rogers ;  which  after  elaborate  argument  upheld  the  fatal 
tyranny  of  ship  money  against  the  ])atriotic  resistance  of 
Hampden;  which,  in  defiance  of  justice  and  humanity 
sent  Sidney  and  Russell  to  the  I)]ock  :  which  persistently 
enforced  the  laws  of  conformity  that  our  Turitan  fathers 
persistently  refused  to  obey,  and  which  afterwards  with 


92     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

Jeffries  on  the  bench  crimsoned  the  pages  of  EngHsh 
history  with  massacre  and  murder,  even  with  the  blood 
of  innocent  women.  Ay,  sir,  and  it  was  a  judicial  tribu- 
nal in  our  country  surrounded  by  all  the  forms  of  law 
which  hung  witches  at  Salem,  which  affirmed  the  con- 
stitutionality of  the  Stamp  Act  while  it  admonished  ju- 
rors and  the  people  to  obey ;  and  which  now  in  our  day 
has  lent  its  sanction  to  the  unutterable  atrocity  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law. 

Charles  Sumner,  Speech  on  the  Fallibility  of  Judicial 
Tribunals. 

THE  JURY. 

It  is  your  province  to  draw  deductions  from  evidence. 
There  seems  to  be  an  idea  that  as  soon  as  a  man  is  called 
to  a  jury  box  he  must  leave  behind  him  all  the  common 
sense  with  which  he  is  normally  endowed.  It  seems  to 
me  it  ought  to  be  just  otherwise.  You  ought  to  use  all 
your  faculties  in  drawing  deductions  from  known  facts. 

District  Attorney  William  S.  Barnes,  in  People  v.  Du- 
rant,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 


To  a  jury  of  my  countrymen  I  never  fear  to  appeal. 
To  a  jury  who  think  as  I  think,  who  were  educated  as  I 
was  educated,  who  have  read  the  same  papers  that  I  have 
read,  who  worship  at  the  same  throne,  I  am  always  will- 
ing to  come.  To  3-ou  I  appeal  with  the  confidence  born 
of  usage  and  knowledge  that  your  verdict  shall  be  a 
righteous  one. 

Attorney  General  H.  M.  Knozvlton,  in  People  v.  Snlli- 
van,  Lowell,  Mass.,  June  14,  1895. 


You  hold  in  your  hands  the  balance  of  justice ;   and  I 
ask  and  expect  that  you  will  not  permit  the  prosecution 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     93 

to  cast  extraneous  and  improper  weights  into  the  scale 
against  the  Hves  of  the  defendants.  You  constitute  the 
mirror  whose  office  it  is  to  reflect,  in  your  verdict,  the  law 
and  the  evidence  which  have  been  submitted  to  you.  Let 
no  foul  breath  dim  its  pure  surface,  and  cause  it  to  render 
back  a  broken  and  distorted  image.  Through  you  now 
flows  the  stream  of  public  justice;  let  it  not  become 
turbid  by  the  trampling  of  unholy  feet. 
6'.  S.  Prentiss,  in  case  of  E.  C.  Wilkinson  and  others. 


I  have  no  other  ambition  or  purpose  in  life  than  to 
deserve  and  have  the  respect  of  my  fellow-citizens.  Do, 
gentlemen,  what  seems  to  be  your  duty.  I  should  be 
glad  if  my  engagements  should  permit  me  to  see  you 
when  your  labors  are  through.  If  they  do  not,  I  hope 
that  intervals  may  bring  us  occasionally  together,  and 
that  every  one  of  us,  conscious  of  having,  done  what 
seemed  to  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God  and  in  the 
guidance  of  an  enlightened  conscience  will  find  our 
days  glide  peacefully  to  a  close,  and  our  end  be  undis- 
turbed by  feelings  that  inequality  and  injustice  shall  de- 
stroy the  affections  and  rend  asunder  those  whom  we 
leave  behind  us,  and  with  the  assurance  that  every  child 
and  every  grandchild  will  bring  flowers  to  our  graves. 

Benjamin  Harrison,  in  Morrisson  will  case,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.,  1895. 

DUTY  OF  JUDGE  AND  JURY. 

Ad  qucestionem  facti  non  respondent  jndices,  ad  qtias- 
tionem  legis  non  respondent  juratores. 

It  is  the  office  of  the  judge  to  instruct  the  jury  in  points 
of  law — of  the  jury  to  decide  on  matters  of  fact. 


94     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

THE  GRO^VTH   OF  THE  JURY  SYSTEM. 

I  do  not  assert  that  the  jury  trial  is  an  infallible  mode 
of  ascertaining  truth.  Like  everything  human,  it  has  its 
imperfections.  I  only  say,  that  it  is  the  best  protection 
for  innocence  and  the  surest  mode  of  punishing  guilt  that 
has  yet  been  discovered.  It  has  borne  the  test  of  a  longer 
experience,  and  borne  it  better,  than  any  other  legal  insti- 
tution that  ever  existed  among  men.  England  owes  more 
of  her  freedom,  her  grandeur,  and  her  prosperity,  to  that 
than  to  all  other  causes  put  together.  It  has  had  the  ap- 
probation not  only  of  those  who  lived  under  it,  but  of  great 
thinkers  who  looked  at  it  calmly  from  a  distance,  and 
judged  it  impartially.  Montesquieu  and  De  Tocqueville 
speak  of  it  with  an  admiration  as  rapturous  as  Coke  and 
Blackstone.  Within  the  present  century,  the  most  en- 
lightened states  of  continental  Europe  have  transplanted 
it  into  their  countries ;  and  no  people  ever  adopted  it 
once  and  were  afterwards  willing  to  part  with  it.  It  was 
only  in  1830  that  an  interference  with  it  in  Belgium  pro- 
voked a  successful  insurrection  which  permanently  di- 
vided one  kingdom  into  two.  In  the  same  year,  the  Revo- 
lution of  the  Barricades  gave  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  to 
every  Frenchman. 

Those  colonists  of  this  country  who  came  from  the  Brit- 
ish Islands  brought  this  institution  with  them,  and  they 
regarded  it  as  the  most  precious  part  of  their  inheritance. 
The  immigrants  from  other  places  where  trial  by  jury 
did  not  exist,  became  equally  attached  to  it  as  soon  as  they 
understood  what  it  was.  There  was  no  subject  upon 
which  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  were  more  per- 
fectly unanimous  than  they  were  in  their  determination 
to  maintain  this  great  right  unimpaired.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  set  it  aside  and  substitute  military  trials  in  its 
place,  by  Lord  Dunmore,  in  Virginia,  and  General  Gage, 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     95 

in  Alassachtisetts,  accompanied  with  the  excuse  which 
has  been  repeated  so  often  in  late  days,  namely,  that  re- 
bellion had  made  it  necessary ;  but  it  excited  intense  popu- 
lar anger,  and  ever}^  colony  from  New  Hampshire  to 
Georgia  made  common  cause  with  the  two  whose  rights 
had  been  especially  invaded.  Subsequently,  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  thundered  it  into  the  ear  of  the  world, 
as  an  unendurable  outrage,  sufficient  to  justify  universal 
insurrection  against  the  authority  of  the  government 
which  had  allowed  it  to  be  done. 

Judge  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  in  the  MUligan  case,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  Dec,  1866. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  TRIAL  BY  JURY. 

I  might  begin  with  Tacitus,  and  show  how  the  contest 
arose  in  the  forests  of  Germany  more  than  two  thousand 
years  ago ;  how  the  rough  virtues  and  sound  common 
sense  of  that  people  established  the  right  of  trial  by  jury, 
and  thus  started  on  a  career  which  has  made  their  pos- 
terity the  foremost  race  that  ever  lived  in  all  the  tide  of 
time.  The  Saxons  carried  it  to  England,  and  were  ever 
ready  to  defend  it  with  their  blood.  It  was  crushed  out 
by  the  Danish  invasion;  and  all  that  they  suffered  of 
tyranny  and  oppression,  during  the  period  of  their  sub- 
jugation, resulted  from  the  want  of  trial  by  jury.  If 
that  had  been  conceded  to  them  the  reaction  would  not 
have  taken  place  which  drove  back  the  Danes  to  their 
frozen  homes  in  the  north.  But  those  ruffian  sea-kings 
could  not  understand  that,  and  the  reaction  came.  -Al- 
fred, the  greatest  of  revolutionary  heroes  and  the  wisest 
monarch  that  ever  sat  on  a  throne,  made  the  first  use  of 
his  power,  after  the  Saxons  restored  it,  to  re-establish 
their  ancient  laws.  I  ie  had  promised  them  llial  lie  wonld. 
and  he  was  true  to  them  because  they  had  l)ecn  true  to 


96     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

him.  But  it  was  not  easily  done ;  the  courts  were  op- 
posed to  it,  for  it  Umited  their  power — a  kind  of  power 
that  everybody  covets — the  power  to  punish  without  re- 
gard to  law.  He  was  obliged  to  hang  forty-four  judges 
in  one  year  for  refusing  to  give  his  subjects  a  trial  by 
jury.  When  the  historian  says  he  hung  them,  it  is  not 
meant  that  he  put  them  to  death  without  a  trial.  He  had 
them  impeached  before  the  grand  council  of  the  nation, 
the  Wittenagemote,  the  parliament  of  that  time.  Dur- 
ing the  subsequent  period  of  Saxon  domination  no  man 
on  English  soil  was  powerful  enough  to  refuse  a  legal 
trial  to  the  meanest  peasant.  If  any  minister  or  any 
king,  in  war  or  in  peace,  had  dared  to  punish  a  freeman 
by  a  tribunal  of  his  own  appointment,  he  would  have 
roused  the  wrath  of  the  whole  population ;  all  orders  of 
society  would  have  resisted  it ;  lord  and  vassal,  knight 
and  squire,  priest  and  penitent,  bocman  and  socman,  mas- 
ter and  thrall,  copyholder  and  villein,  would  have  risen 
in  one  mass  and  burnt  the  offender  to  death  in  his  castle, 
or  followed  him  in  his  flight  and  torn  him  to  atoms.  It 
was  again  trampled  down  by  the  Norman  conquerors ; 
but  the  evils  resulting  from  the  want  of  it  united  all  classes 
in  the  effort  which  compelled  King  John  to  restore  it  by 
the  Great  Charter.  Everybody  is  familiar  with  the  strug- 
gles which  the  English  people,  during  many  generations, 
made  for  their  rights  with  the  Plantagenets,  the  Tudors, 
and  the  Stuarts,  and  which  ended  finally  in  the  revolution 
of  1688,  when  the  liberties  of  England  were  placed  upon 
an  impregnable  basis  by  the  Bill  of  Rights.  Many  times 
the  attempt  was  made  to  stretch  the  royal  authority  far 
enough  to  justify  military  trials;  but  it  never  had  more 
than  temporary  success. 

Judge  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  in  the  Milligan  case,  U.  S. 
Supreme  Court,  Washington,  D.  C,  Dec,  1866. 


iVIAXUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS     97 

TBIAIi  BY  JURY. 

What  did  Edmund  Burke  mean  when  he  said  that  the 
greatest  object  of  civil  government  was  to  get  twelve 
honest  men  into  the  jury  box?  What  becomes  of  that 
principle  inwrought  with  every  jurisprudence,  from  the 
twelve  tables  down,  which  gave  the  Athenian  and  has 
given  the  meanest  culprit  ever  since,  the  right  to  say, 
"  Strike,  but  hear  me !  " 

Roscoe  Conkiing,  Speech  in  House  of  Representatives, 
April  29,  1862,  on  Government  contracts. 


The  best  security  for  the  rights  of  individuals  is  to  be 
found  in  the  trial  by  jury.  But  the  excellence  of  this  in- 
stitution consists  in  its  exclusive  power.  The  jury  are 
here  judges  of  law  and  fact,  and  are  responsible  only  to 
God,  to  the  prisoner  and  to  their  own  consciences. 

William  Pinkney,  in  defense  of  John  Hodges,  Balti- 
more, May,  181 5. 

THE  VALUE  OF  JURY  TRIALS. 

I  know  you  are  called  out  to-day  to  fill  up  the  cere- 
monial of  a  gaudy  pageant,  and  that  to-morrow  you  will 
be  flung  back  again  among  the  unused  and  useless  lumber 
of  the  constitution ;  but  trust  me,  the  good  old  trial  by 
jury  will  come  round  again  ;  trust  me,  gentlemen,  in  the 
revolution  of  the  great  wheel  of  human  affairs,  though 
it  is  now  at  the  bottom,  it  will  re-ascend  to  the  station  it 
has  lost,  and  once  more  assume  its  former  dignity  and  re- 
spect. 

John  P.  Cnrran,  Trial  of  Nappcr  Tandy,  Court  of 
King's  Bench,  London,  May  19,  1800. 

DUTIES  OF  JURIES. 

Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  I  have  about  concluded  my  du- 
ties in  this  cause.     Yours  will  follow.     I  ask  from  vou 


98     MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

nothing  in  the  world  but  the  intelHgent  judgment  of 
twelve  intelligent  men  on  the  evidence  before  you.  I 
have  only  one  little  picture  more  to  offer.  It  is  Burns's 
picture  of  the  Scottish  farmer  in  the  seclusion  of  his  fam- 
ily. His  day's  work  done,  he  draws  his  little  family  about 
him.  He  has  laid  aside  his  cap  and  has  taken  the  old 
family  Bible  from  its  shelf.  He  calls  Jane  and  James  and 
the  old  mother  and  reads  to  them  from  God's  promises. 
Then  all  bow  their  heads  in  prayer.  "  In  scenes  like  these 
old  Scotia's  grandeur  lies."  Some  of  you  here  are  wont 
to  keep  that  sacred  family  tryst.  Into  that  tryst  you 
would  never  admit  this  paper. 

General  Black,  in  People  v.  Dunlap,  Neiv  York,  Feb'y 
4,  1896. 


It  is  not  a  pleasant  duty  to  render  a  verdict  of  murder 
in  the  first  degree,  even  if  you  find  the  evidence  warrants 
it,  but  you  are  here,  gentlemen,  as  the  representatives  of 
justice  and  must  perform  your  duty.  I  can  readily  un- 
derstand how  you  shrink  from  finding  such  a  verdict  as 
this,  but  I  appeal  to  your  manhood,  your  sense  of  right 
and  justice.  I  ask  you  to  do  what  the  Crier  of  the  Court 
asked  you  to  do,  "  Stand  together,  good  men  and  true." 
I  ask  you  to  complete  the  work  the  law  has  passed  upon 
you,  manfully,  honestly  and  well,  declaring  the  result  of 
your  judgment,  no  matter  what  the  consequences  may  be 
to  this  man  or  to  the  Commonwealth.  It  requires  cour- 
age, I  know,  to  do  this,  but  I  trust  to  your  honor  as  men. 
It  requires  justice  to  be  done  here,  and  to  carry  out  this 
justice  it  requires  just  as  much  courage  as  it  does  upon 
the  battlefield;  just  as  much  courage  as  it  does  to  face 
the  cannon's  mouth  or  to  charge  regiments ;  aye,  it  re- 
quires a  higher  courage  to  sit  in  the  jury  box  as  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  law  and  discharge  your  duty. 


:maxual  of  forensic  quotations   99 

I  ask  you  to  stand  together  as  men.  and  if  you  find  the 
prisoner  is  guilty,  be  true  to  your  conscience,  true  to  your 
God,  true  to  yourselves,  and  discharge  your  duty  faith- 
fully in  the  sight  of  God  and  in  the  sight  of  man,  remem- 
bering that  you  are  not  responsible  for  his  fate,  remem- 
bering that  his  fate  was  sealed  in  the  silence  of  that  Sun- 
day at  Xo.  1 316  Callowhill  street.  He  began  the  work, 
he  wrought  the  fetters  and  created  the  circumstances  that 
put  him  in  this  dock  to-day  on  trial  for  his  life. 

District  Attorney  George  S.  Graham,  in  People  v. 
Holmes,  Phila.,  Pa.,  1895. 


They  know,  as  well  as  I  do,  that  the  great  object  of  a 
jury  is  to  protect  the  country  against  crimes,  and  to  pro- 
tect individuals  against  all  accusation  that  is  not  founded 
in  truth.  They  will  remember — I  know  they  will  remem- 
ber, that  the  great  object  of  their  duty  is,  according  to  the 
expression  of  a  late  venerated  judge,  in  another  country, 
that  they  are  to  come  into  the  box  with  their  minds  like 
white  paper,  upon  which  prejudice,  or  passion,  or  bias,  or 
talk,  or  hope,  or  fear,  has  not  been  able  to  scrawl  any 
thing;  that  you,  gentlemen,  come  into  the  box,  standing 
indifferent  as  you  stand  unsworn. 

John  P.  Ciirran,  Trial  of  Rev.  William  Jackson,  Dub- 
lin, April  21,  1795. 


W'hether  the  punishment  is  to  be  an  hour  or  a  year,  it 
is  an  infamous  punishment ;  and  you  should  be  equally 
cautious  in  resting  your  verdict  upon  unquestionable  and 
unsatisfactory  proof.  I  marvel,  indeed,  that  my  learned 
friend,  while  haranguing  you  upon  the  enormity  of  this 
offense,  should  attempt  soothing  you  into  a  verdict  by  the 


100  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

suggestion  that  it  would  probably  be  attended  with  no 
evil  to  the  defendant.  Allow  me  to  deprecate  this  ques- 
tionable mercy.  It  is  calculated,  if  not  designed,  to  se- 
duce you  from  allegiance  to  your  duties.  If  the  defend- 
ant be  guilty,  he  should  meet  the  rigor  of  the  law ;  if  in- 
nocent, his  rights  should  not  be  compromised  by  the  im- 
aginary insignificance  of  his  anticipated  punishment.  I 
make  no  claims  upon  your  charity ;  my  appeals  are  to 
your  justice. 

David  Paul  Brown,  in  defense  of  Alexander  William 
Holmes,  indicted  for  manslaughter  on  the  high  seas. 


Gentlemen,  I  commit  this  case  to  you  in  the  sublime 
language  of  the  great  orator  who  speaks  to  you  from 
his  grave  at  Marshfield :  "  With  conscience  satisfied  with 
the  discharge  of  duty,  no  consequences  can  harm  you. 
There  is  no  evil  that  we  cannot  either  face  or  fly  from  but 
the  consciousness  of  duty  disregarded.  It  is  omnipres- 
ent, like  the  Deity.  If  we  take  to  ourselves  the  wings  of 
the  morning  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth, 
duty  performed  or  duty  violated  is  still  with  us  for  our 
happiness  or  misery,  and  if  we  say  darkness  shall  cover 
us,  in  darkness  as  in  the  light  our  obligations  are  yet  with 
us.  We  cannot  escape  their  power  nor  fly  from  their 
presence.  They  are  with  us  in  this  life,  will  be  with  us 
at  its  close,  and  *  *  *  yg|-  further  onward  we  shall 
still  find  ourselves  surrounded  by  the  consciousness  of 
duty  to  pain  us  wherever  it  has  been  violated,  and  to  con- 
sole us  so  far  as  God  may  have  given  us  grace  to  per- 
form it." 

William  A.  Beach,  Trial  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  Jany,  1875. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  101 

(Andrew  Johnson)  was  tried  by  a  tribunal  over  which 
Chief  Justice  Chase  presided,  and  where  the  jury  who 
were  to  pronounce  the  verdict  were  the  senators  of  the 
American  states.  Those  senators  w^ere  not  his  poHtical 
or  his  personal  friends.  A  large  majority  of  them  were 
his  political  adversaries,  driven  to  indignation  by  a  sup- 
posed betrayal  of  trust  reposed  in  him  by  the  party  who 
elevated  him  to  power.  It  embraced  many  bitter  personal 
enemies.  But,  gentlemen,  the  case  went  to  them  upon 
the  evidence.  The  politicians  ceased  to  be  such.  The 
senators  became  sworn  jurors.  They  determined  the 
case  not  upon  antecedent  prejudice,  but  upon  the  evi- 
dence of  their  honest  convictions,  and  Andrew  Johnson 
was  acquitted.  The  newspaper  judgment  was  reversed, 
and  what  has  been  the  sequel?  After  the  expiration  of 
President  Johnson's  term,  Tennessee  returned  him  as 
senator,  to  the  very  capitol  in  which  he  had  been  ar- 
raigned as  a  criminal. 

Judge  Porter,  in  Bahcock  conspiracy  case,  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  Feb'y,  1876. 

You  are  to  judge  of  his  conduct  as  if  you  had  been  in 
his  situation.  That  is  your  duty  to-day.  I  state  it  in  the 
hearing  of  the  court,  and  in  the  presence  of  my  profes- 
sional brethren.  You  arc  not  to  estimate  his  guilt  or  in- 
nocence by  the  appearance  of  the  circumstances  to  a  cool, 
indifferent,  and  disinterested  observer.  You  are  to  put 
yourselves  in  his  j^lace,  assume  his  relations  to  others, 
imbibe  his  affections,  and  survey  everything  from  his 
point  of  view. 

Daniel  IV.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  II.  C.  Black. 

DUTIES   OF   PETIT  JURIES. 

My  lords,  the  law  of  this  country  has  declared  that  in 


102  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

order  to  the  conviction  of  any  man,  not  only  of  any  charge 
of  the  higher  species  of  criminal  offenses,  but  of  any 
criminal  charge  whatsoever,  he  must  be  convicted  upon 
the  finding  of  two  juries;  first,  of  the  grand  jury,  who 
determine  vipon  the  guilt  in  one  point  of  view ;  and, 
secondly,  by  the  corroborative  finding  of  the  petty  jury, 
who  establish  that  guilt  in  a  more  direct  manner;  and  it 
is  the  law  of  this  country,  that  the  jurors  who  shall  so 
find,  whether  upon  the  grand,  or  whether  upon  the  petty 
inquest,  shall  be  probi  et  legates  homines  omni  excep- 
tione  ma j ores. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Henry  Sheares  for  high  trea- 
son, Dublin,  July  4,  1798. 


You  have  a  solemn  duty  to  perform,  and  I  want  you  to 
perform  it.  I  want  you  to  perform  it  like  men — like 
honest  men.  I  ask  your  sober  judgment  on  the  case,  but 
it  is  right  for  that  judgment  to  be  tempered  with  mercy. 
It  is  according  to  the  principles  of  law,  one  of  whose  max- 
ims tells  you  "  it  were  better  for  one  hundred  guilty  men 
to  escape  than  for  an  innocent  one  to  be  punished."  Is 
not  here  your  commission  for  mercy?  It  is  alike  your 
honest  minds  and  your  warm  hearts  that  constitute  you 
the  glorious  tribunal  you  are — that  make  this  jury  of 
peers  one  of  the  noblest  institutions  of  our  country  and 
our  age.  But  the  gentlemen  would  make  you  a  set  of 
legal  logicians — calculators,  who  are  to  come  to  your  con- 
clusion by  the  same  steps  a  shop-keeper  takes  to  ascertain 
the  quantity  of  coffee  he  has  sold  by  the  pound.  That 
may  be  a  jury  in  name,  but  it  is  nothing  else. 

John  J.  Crittenden,  in  Matt  Ward  case,  Elizabethtown, 
Ky.,  April,  1854. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  103 

THE  LIBERTY  OF  JURIES. 

Whatever  verdict  a  jury  can  pronounce  upon  him  can 
be  of  no  final  avail.  There  was,  indeed,  a  time  when  a 
jury  was  the  shield  of  liberty  and  Hfe;  there  was  a  time 
when  I  never  rose  to  address  it  without  a  certain  senti- 
ment of  confidence  and  pride ;  but  that  time  is  past.  I 
have  now  no  heart  to  make  any  appeal  to  your  indigna- 
tion, your  justice,  or  your  humanity.  I  sink  under  the 
consciousness  that  you  are  nothing. 

John  P.  Ciirran,  Trial  of  Napper  Tandy,  Court  of 
King's  Bench,  May  19,  1800. 

JUSTICE. 

Justice  does  not  mean  severity.  Justice  does  not  mean 
blind  revenge.  Justice  means  the  justice  of  men  as  God 
Himself  judges  men,  in  the  light  of  kindness  and  sin- 
cerity. 

David  S.  Rose,  for  defense  in  People  v.  Luscombe,  Mil- 
waukee, Wis.,  June  20,  1895. 

JUSTICE  CHARACTERIZED. 

Justice  may  weep ;  but  she  must  strike  where  she  ought 
not  to  spare.  We,  too,  may  lament ;  but,  when  we  mourn 
over  crimes,  let  us  take  care  that  there  be  no  crimes  of  our 
own  upon  which  our  tears  should  be  shed. 

John  P.  Curraii,  Trial  of  Sir  Henry  Hayes,  Cork,  April 
16,  1801. 

FAITHLESS    ADMINISTRATION    OF    JUSTICE. 

Courts,  and  indeed  governments,  are  powerless  in  the 
punishment  of  the  guilty  unless  juries  fearlessly  do  their 
duty.  A  faithless  and  imperfect  administration  saps  the 
foundations  of  society,  and  excites  the  people  to  anarchy 
and  misrule.  We  need  not  go  far  to  find  the  illustration. 
In  our  own  proud  Indiana,  with  its  schools,  Bibles,  and 


104  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

churches,  within  the  last  year  or  two  a  number  of  victims 
have  been  immolated  by  the  demon  mob.  Administer 
the  law,  purify  the  fountains  of  justice,  protect  society 
from  the  vicious,  and  society  will  feel  safe  and  good 
order  will  reign  within  our  borders.  Let  me  appeal  to 
you  to  do  your  whole  duty  in  this  case,  even  though  your 
verdict  "  may  touch  the  heart  of  a  mother  or  a  sister." 
Punishment  must  be  certain,  that  society  may  be  safe. 
It  is  sometimes  necessary  to  make  an  example,  and  if 
there  was  such  a  time  it  is  upon  us  now. 

Thomas  M.  Brown,  in  Foster-Hatfield  trial  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.,  Jaii'y,  i8'/2. 

IN  A  COURT   OF  JUSTICE. 

At  last  the  case  has  reached  a  court  of  justice,  where 
the  sides  can  be  heard,  and  where  the  hot  breath  of  pas- 
sion and  faction  does  not  mildew  reason.  The  plaintiff 
has  had  a  full  hearing,  so  has  the  defendant.  The  di- 
rectors and  the  plaintiff,  in  contesting  the  large  sum  at 
stake,  have  acted  only  as  trustees  for  all  the  men  and  all 
the  women  and  all  the  children  who  make  up  the  stock- 
holders, and  whose  gain  or  loss  the  result  must  be. 

Roscoe  Conkling,  in  New  York  Central  R.  R.  tax  case, 
1874. 

JUSTICE  OF  THE  LAW. 

Actus  Ici^is  ncmini  est  damnostis. 

An  act  in  law  shall  prejudice  no  man. 

THE   ADMINISTRATION   OF   JUSTICE. 

Every  human  tribunal  ought  to  take  care  to  administer 
justice,  as  we  look,  hereafter,  to  have  justice  administered 
to  ourselves. 

Lord  Erskine,  Speech  in  defense  of  John  Stockdale, 
tried  for  libel  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  Westminster, 
Eng.,  Dec.  9,  1789. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  105 

Under  what  obligations  can  I  call  upon  you,  the  jury 
representing  your  country,  to  administer  justice?  Surely 
upon  no  other  than  that  you  are  sworn  to  administer  it 
under  the  oaths  you  have  taken.  The  whole  judicial 
fabric  from  the  King's  sovereign  authority  to  the  lowest 
office  of  magistracy,  has  no  other  foundation.  The  whole 
is  built  both  in  form  and  substance  upon  the  same  oath 
of  every  one  of  its  ministers  to  do  justice,  as  God  shall 
help  them  hereafter.  What  God?  And  what  hereafter? 
That  God  undoubtedly  who  has  commanded  kings  to  rule 
and  judges  to  decree  jvistice;  who  has  said  to  the  wit- 
nesses not  only  by  the  voice  of  nature  but  in  revealed 
commandments — Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  testimony 
against  thy  neighbor — and  who  has  enforced  obedience 
to  them  by  the  revelation  of  those  unutterable  blessings 
which  shall  attend  their  observance  and  the  awful  punish- 
ment which  shall  await  upon  their  transgressions. 

Lord  Erskine,  Speech  in  defense  of  Thomas  Williams, 
the  publisher  of  the  "Age  of  Reason,"  Court  of  King's 
Bench,  Westminster,  June  24,  1797. 

THE  TEMPLE  OF  JUSTICE. 

Therefore,  I  leave  my  client  with  you.  He  has  fled  to 
the  temple  of  justice — he  has  fallen  upon  its  steps.  I 
trust  in  divine  Providence,  that  he  will  find  there  a  sanc- 
tuary, and  that  your  lordships  will  order  him  to  be  dis- 
charged from  the  custody  in  which  he  is  now  detained. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Judge  Johnson,  Court  of  Ex- 
chequer, Feh'y  4,  1805. 

THE  TIES  OF  KINDRED. 

There  are  many  strange  things  in  this  world,  and  the 
condition  which  i)rcvails  in  this  family  may  be  among  the 
strangest  known  to  man.  I  realize  the  strength  of  the 
ties  of  kindred.     1   realize  that  God  has  planted  in  the 


106  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

human  breast  that  spirit  of  protection,  not  alone  to  self, 
but  to  relatives,  to  brother,  to  father,  to  mother,  or  to 
child  or  to  wife. 

State's  Attorney  Frank  M.  Nye,  in  People  v.  Hayward, 
Minneapolis,  Minn.,  Dec,  1895. 

THE  POSSESSION  OF  LAND. 

Citjus  est  solum,  ejus  est  usque  ad  caelum. 
He  who  possesses  land,  also  possesses  that  which  is 
above  it. 

THE  LAW. 

To  elevate  the  morals  of  our  people,  to  hold  up  the  law 
as  that  sacred  thing  which,  like  the  ark  of  God  of  old, 
may  be  touched  by  irreverent  hands,  but  frowns  upon  any 
intention  to  dethrone  its  supremacy ;  to  unite  our  people 
in  all  that  makes  home  comfortable,  as  well  as  to  give  our 
energies  in  the  direction  of  material  advancement — this 
service  may  we  render. 

Benjamin  Harrison,  Speech  in  New  York  City,  April 
30,  1889. 


There  is  a  maxim  of  the  law,  that  where  the  reason 
ceases,  the  law  itself  ceases.  It  is  not  only  a  maxim  of 
common  law,  but  equally  of  common  sense. 

Thomas  F.  Bayard,  Speech  in  U.  S.  Senate,  Jan'y  24, 
1877. 


But  how  much  nobler  will  be  the  sovereign's  boast  when 
he  shall  have  it  to  say,  that  he  found  law  dear  and  left  it 
cheap ;  found  it  a  sealed  book,  left  it  a  living  letter ;  found 
it  the  patrimony  of  the  rich,  left  it  the  inheritance  of  the 
poor;   found  it  the  two-edged  sword  of  craft  and  oppres- 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  lOT 

sion,  left  it  the  staff  of  honesty  and  the  shield  of  inno- 
cence. 

Lord  Brougham,  Speech  on  Laze  Reform. 


Reason  is  the  life  of  the  law;    nay,  the  common  law 
itself  is  nothing  else  but  reason. 
Sir  Ed-ix'ard  Coke. 


To  make  an  empire  durable,  the  magistrates  must  obey 
the  laws,  and  the  people  the  magistrates. 
Solon. 


Equity  judgeth  with  lenity,  laws  with  extremity.     In  all 
moral  cases,  the  reason  of  the  law  is  the  law. 
Sir  Walter  Scott. 


We  should  never  create  by  law  what  can  be  accom- 
plished by  morality. 
Montesquieu. 


The  universal  and  absolute  law  is  that  natural  justice 
which  cannot  be  written  down,  but  which  appeals  to  the 
heart  of  all.  Written  laws  are  formulas  in  which  we  en- 
deavor to  express  the  least  imperfectly  possible  that 
which,  under  such  or  such  determined  circumstances, 
natural  justice  demands. 

Victor  Cousin. 


Gentlemen,  we  live  in  a  land  of  law.     Our  law  is  the 
express  will  of  the  people.     It  is  enforced  by  the  govern- 


108  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

ment,  which  is  the  agent,  the  creature  of  the  people — in 
other  words,  the  people  organized.  But  what  is  the  law, 
the  will  of  the  people,  which  is  the  only  sovereign  we 
obey?  Where  does  it  abide,  and  what  does  it  do?  It  is 
the  body  of  principles  and  rules,  which  the  people  have 
adopted  and  enacted  for  the  establishment  of  rights,  and 
the  prevention,  redress  and  punishment  of  wrongs.  It  is 
everywhere,  like  the  atmosphere  which  we  breathe.  It 
is  the  vital  air,  in  which  all  rights  live,  and  it  is  mortal 
to  all  wrongs  and  crimes.  It  is  full  of  life  and  power  to 
preserve  life,  and  to  make  it  safe  and  sweet — to  prevent  all 
crimes  against  it  before  they  are  committed,  and  to  punish 
them  after  they  have  been  accomplished.  It  is  the  law 
that  protects  all  in  all  places ;  and  pursues  him  who  vio- 
lates it  to  the  injury  of  others,  to  avenge  them.  It  teaches 
all  to  avoid  collisions  and  harm  on  the  highways,  by  ad- 
monishing each  "  to  keep  to  the  right."  It  is  so  common, 
so  universal,  so  essential,  that,  grown  used  to  it,  it  is  only 
in  its  violations,  and  the  retributions  with  which  it  follows 
them,  that  we  realize  its  presence,  at  least,  in  so  far  as  our 
natural  rights  and  duties  are  concerned. 

Major  J.  IV.  Gordon,  in  Evans'  homicide  case,  New 
Albany,  Ind.,  May,  1866. 

LAW  AND  COMMON  ERROR. 

Communis  error  facit  jus. 

Common  error  sometimes  passes  current  as  law. 

THE  LAW^  AND  MURDER. 

O  no,  our  law  isn't  so  weak  as  that.  It  is  a  broad, 
glorious  law  that  we  live  under,  weak  sometimes  in  exe- 
cution, but  as  strong  as  ten  centuries  can  make  it.  My 
learned  friend  has  said  that  murder  is  the  highest  crime 
but  one.     It  is  the  highest  crime,  the  first  one  committed 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  109 

in  the  world.     It  is  that  sad,  sad  crime  that  takes  away 
that  which  can  never  be  replaced. 

Attorney  General  H.  M.  Knozvlton,  in  Commomvealth 
V.  SidUran  et  a!.,  Lowell,  Mass.,  June  14,  1895. 

LAW  AND  ORDER. 

Everywhere  there  is  order;  everywhere  there  is  secur- 
ity. Everywhere  the  law  reaches  to  the  highest,  and 
reaches  to  the  lowest,  to  protect  him  in  his  rights,  and  to 
restrain  him  from  wrong;  and  over  all  hovers  liberty, 
that  liberty  which  our  fathers  fought  and  fell  for  on  this 
very  spot,  with  her  eyes  ever  watchful  and  her  eagle  wing 
ever  wide  outspread. 

Daniel  Webster,  Address  at  the  completion  of  the 
Bunker  Hill  Monument,  Charlcstozcn,  Mass.,  June,  1845. 

EQUALITY  AND  JUSTICE  IN  LAVIT. 

It  must  not  be  equality  and  justice  in  the  written  law 
only,  but  equality  and  justice  in  the  law's  administration, 
alike  afforded  in  every  part  of  the  republic,  and  literally 
secured  to  every  citizen  thereof. 

William  McKinlev,  Speech  at  Ironton,  Ohio,  Oct.  i, 
1885. 

LA"W  FOUNDED  ON  FREE  CONSENT. 

Our  theory  of  law  is  free  consent.  That  is  the  granite 
foundation  of  our  whole  superstructure.  Nothing  in  this 
republic  can  be  law  without  consent — the  free  consent  of 
the  House;  the  free  consent  of  the  Senate;  the  free  con- 
sent of  the  Executive,  or  if  he  refuses  it,  tiic  consent  of 
two-thirds  of  these  bodies.  Will  any  man  challenge  a  line 
of  the  statement  that  free  consent  is  the  foundation  rock 
of  all  our  institutions? 

James  A.  Garfield,  Speech  in  Congress. 


110  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

KNOVTLEDGE  OF  THE  LAW. 

There  is,  indeed,  a  rule  of  law,  said  to  be  essential  to 
the  existence  of  society,  that  all  men  must  be  taken  to 
know  the  law,  except,  I  might  add,  lawyers  and  judges, 
who  seldom  agree  upon  any  proposition  until  they  must. 

James  T.  Brady,  in  case  of  Savannah  Privateers. 

IGNORANCE   OF   THE   LAAV   DOES   NOT   EXCUSE. 

Ignorantia  facti  excusat;  ignorantia  juris  non  excusat. 
Ignorance  of  fact  excuses;    ignorance  of  the  law  does 
not  excuse. 

INNOVATIONS  OF  THE  LAW. 

Omnis  innovatio  plus  novitate  perturbat  quam  utilitate 
prod  est. 

Every  innovation  occasions  more  harm  and  derange- 
ment of  order  by  its  novelty  than  benefit  by  its  abstract 
utility. 

THE  LAW  MUST  BE  PROSPECTIVE,  ETC. 

Nova  constitution  futuris  formam  imponere  debet,  non 
prceteritis. 

A  legislative  enactment  ought  to  be  prospective,  not 
retrospective,  in  its  operation. 

THE  LAW^  NO  RESPECTER  OF  THEORIES. 

The  law  of  England  pays  no  respect  to  theories,  how- 
ever ingenious,  or  the  authors  however  wise;  and  there- 
fore, unless  you  hear  me  refuted  by  a  series  of  direct 
precedents,  and  not  by  vague  doctrine — if  you  wish  to 
sleep  in  peace,  follow  me. 

Lord  Erskinc,  Speech  against  constructive  treason,  in 
defense  of  Lord  George  Gordon. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  111 

OBEDIENCE  TO  LAAV  PROTECTED. 

Qui  jttssii  jndicis  aliquod  fecerit  non  Tidctur  dolo  malo 
fccisse,  quia  par  ere  necesss  est. 

\\'here  a  person  does  an  act  by  command  of  one  exer- 
cising judicial  authority,  the  law  will  not  suppose  that  he 
acted  from  any  wrongfvd  or  improper  motive,  because  it 
was  his  bounden  duty  to  obey. 

THE  LAW  OF  TRIFLES. 

De  minimis  non  curat  lex. 

The  law  does  not  concern  itself  about  trifles. 


PRACTICE  OF  THE  LAW. 

The  law  is  a  science.  It  is  no  mere  trade.  It  is  not 
the  road  to  wealth.  There  is,  in  our  society,  no  branch  of 
business,  no  mechanic  art,  which  is  not  a  better  avenue  to 
riches.  Lawyers,  indeed,  sometimes  grow  rich  in  the 
speculations  of  the  world.  Such  run  the  risk  of  sacrific- 
ing their  profession  to  their  interest.  For  law  is  a  jealous 
mistress,  and  exacts  devotion  of  heart  and  life.  She  often 
honors  her  disciple ;  but,  in  this  country,  she  rarely  en- 
riches him.  Great  lawyers,  not  otherwise  enriched,  always 
or  almost  always,  die  poor.  Wealth,  too,  is  a  jealous  god, 
and  those  who  worship  at  its  shrine  must  surrender  heart 
and  life  to  their  idol.  What  we  call  the  learned  profes- 
sions are,  therefore,  not  among  the  thoroughfares  of  for- 
tune. It  is  generally  the  successful  lawyer's  lot  to  spend 
life  in  the  luxury  of  refined  and  elegant  poverty.  The 
lawyer,  indeed,  must  live  and  receive  his  quiddam  hon- 
orarium. But  this  is  the  incident,  not  the  aim,  of  pro- 
fessional life.  The  pursuit  of  the  legal  profession,  for 
the  mere  wages  of  life,  is  a  mistake  alike  of  the  means  and 


112  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

of  the  end.     It  is  a  total  failure  of  appreciation  of  the 
character  of  the  profession. 

Chief  Justice  Ryan,  before  the  law  class  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin,  June,  1880. 

PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  ENGLISH  LAVT. 

The  principles  of  the  English  law  are  sufficiently  clear. 
They  are  founded  in  reason  and  are  masterpieces  of  the 
human  understanding;  but  it  is  in  the  text  that  I  would 
look  for  direction  in  my  judgment,  not  in  the  commen- 
taries of  modern  professors. 

Lord  Chatham,  Speech  in  the  House  of  Lords,  in  reply 
to  Lord  Mansfield  on  the  Amendment  of  the  Address,  etc., 
—1770. 

REVERENCE  FOR  LAW. 

My  Lords,  I  am  a  plain  man,  and  have  been  brought  up 
in  religious  reverence  for  the  original  simplicity  of  the 
laws  of  England. 

Lord  Chatham,  Speech  in  the  House  of  Lords,  1770. 

SECURITY  UNDER  THE  LAW^. 

If  I  were  to  ask  you,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  what  is  the 
choicest  fruit  that  grows  upon  the  tree  of  English  liberty, 
you  would  answer,  security  under  the  law.  If  I  were  to 
ask  the  whole  people  of  England,  the  return  they  looked 
for  at  the  hands  of  the  government,  for  the  burdens  under 
which  they  bend  to  support  it,  I  should  still  be  answered, 
security  under  the  law ;  or,  in  other  words,  an  impartial 
administration  of  justice.  So  sacred  therefore  has  the 
freedom  of  trial  been  ever  held  in  England,  so  anxiously 
does  justice  guard  against  every  possible  bias  in  her  path, 
that,  if  the  public  mind  has  been  locally  agitated  upon 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  llS 

any   subject   in   judgment,   the   forum   has   either   been 
changed  or  the  trial  postponed. 

Lord  Erskine,  in  defense  of  Thomas  Paine,  tried  for 
libel. 


Law,  alone,  has  accomplished  what  all  the  natural  feel- 
ings were  not  able  to  do;  law,  alone,  has  been  able  to 
create  a  fixed  and  durable  position,  which  deserves  the 
name  of  Property.  The  law,  alone,  could  accustom  men 
to  submit  to  the  yoke  of  foresight,  at  first  painful  to  be 
borne,  but,  afterwards  agreeable  and  mild ;  it  alone  could 
encourage  them  in  labor — superfluous  at  present,  and 
which  they  are  not  to  enjoy  till  the  future.  Economy 
has  as  many  enemies  as  there  are  spendthrifts,  or  men  who 
would  enjoy  without  taking  the  trouble  to  produce.  Labor 
is  too  painful  for  idleness;  it  is  too  slow  for  impatience; 
Cunning  and  Injustice  underhandedly  conspire  to  appro- 
priate its  fruits ;  Insolence  and  Audacity  plot  to  seize 
them  by  open  force.  Hence  Society,  always  tottering, 
always  threatened,  never  at  rest,  lives  in  the  midst  of 
snares.  It  requires,  in  the  legislator,  vigilance  continually 
sustained,  and  power  always  in  action,  to  defend  it  against 
his  constantly  reviving  crowd  of  adversaries. 

The  law  does  not  say  to  a  man,  "  Work,  and  I  will  re- 
ward you  ;  "  l)ut  it  says  to  him,  "  Work,  and  by  stopping 
the  hand  that  would  take  them  from  you,  I  will  insure  to 
you  the  fruits  of  your  labor,  its  natural  and  sufficient  re- 
ward, which,  without  me,  you  could  not  preserve."  If  in- 
dustry creates,  it  is  the  law  which  preserves;  if.  at  the 
first  moment,  we  owe  everything  to  labor,  at  the  second, 
and  every  succeeding  moment,  wc  owe  everything  to  the 
law. 


114  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

In  order  to  form  a  clear  idea  of  the  whole  extent  which 
ought  to  be  given  to  the  principle  of  security,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  consider,  that  man  is  not  like  the  brutes,  limited 
to  the  present  time,  either  in  enjoyment  or  sufifering;  but 
that  he  is  susceptible  of  pleasure  and  pain  by  anticipation, 
and  that  it  is  not  enough  to  guard  him  against  an  actual 
loss,  but  also  to  guarantee  to  him,  as  much  as  possible,  his 
possessions  against  future  losses.  The  idea  of  his  secur- 
ity must  be  prolonged  to  him  throughout  the  whole  vista 
that  his  imagination  can  measure. 

Jeremy  Bentham. 


Look  for  a  moment  through  our  entire  code  of  laws, 
and  you  will  find  there  "  a  rule  of  action,  enforcing  what 
is  right,  and  prohibiting  what  is  wrong  " — intended  to 
curb  the  depraved  and  licentious  passions  of  men,  which 
may  perhaps,  in  individual  cases,  operate  harshly,  but  the 
general  influences  of  which  are  beneficial  and  salutary. 

We  have  a  law  requiring  all  carriages  meeting  upon 
the  highway  to  turn  to  the  right.  We  have  a  law  requir- 
ing druggists  to  label  all  medicines  which  are  highly  de- 
structive to  animal  life,  "  Poison."  By  law  no  man  is 
permitted  to  burn  his  house,  though  he  may  destroy  it  in 
any  other  way  he  pleases.  And  here  again  the  lawgiver 
presumes  to  know  what  is  just  and  proper  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  opinions  of  the  individual ;  and  yet  this  has,  so  far, 
remained  unassailed. 

A  dissolution  of  the  marriage  contract  is  expressly  pro- 
hibited unless  declared  by  a  court  of  equity  for  cause ;  and 
that,  too,  though  a  Socrates  and  Xantippe  are  bound  to- 
gether in  the  silken  cords,  and  although  they  both  desire 
the  relation,  because  the  legislature  assumes  to  know  what 
is  just  in  the  premises,  better  than  the  parties;  and  who 
has  murmured  at  the  existence  of  such  a  law?     In  short, 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  115 

all  the  laws  of  society  are  more  or  less  arbitrary  in  their 
character;  they  are  but  the  declared  opinions  of  the  peo- 
ple through  their  representatives — intended  for  the  gen- 
eral good. 

Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  Speech  on  the  repeal  of  the  usury 
laws,  N.  Y.  State  Senate,  Feb'y  lo,  1837. 

SUBMISSION  TO  THE  LAW. 

The  true  view  of  the  matter  is,  that  every  man  is  pre- 
sumed to  submit  to  all  power  which  may  be  lawfully  ex- 
ercised over  him  or  his  right,  and  no  one  should  be  pre- 
sumed to  submit  to  illegal  acts  of  power,  whether  actual 
or  contingent. 

Daniel  Webster,  in  case  of  Ogden  v.  Saunders,  Wash- 
ington, Jan'y,  1827. 

THE  ASSISTANCE  OF  THE  LAW. 

Vigilantibus,  nan  dormicntibus,  jura  subveniunt. 
The  laws  assist  those  who  are  vigilant,  not  those  who 
sleep  over  their  rights. 

THE  ENFORCEMENT  OF  THE  LAW^. 

But  if  criminals  are  to  escape,  simply  because  their  pun- 
ishment will  afifect  the  lives  of  the  innocent  who  are  con- 
nected with  them  by  bonds  of  blood,  or  marriage,  or 
friendship,  there  would  be  no  punishment  for  crime.  The 
State  of  Indiana  must  enforce  the  law  against  all 
criminals. 

"  Law  is  the  deep,  august  foundation  upon  which  peace  and  jus- 
tice rest; 
Upon  the  rock  primeval  hidden  deep  its  bases  be, 
And  block  by  block  the  endeavoring  ages  have  wrought  it  up  to 
what  we  see." 

Henry  N.  Spaan,  in  People  v.  Hinshazv,  Danville,  Ind., 
Oct.  I.  1895. 


116  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

THE  EXECUTION  OF  THE  LA^W. 

Execiitio  juris  non  habet  injuriam. 

The  law  will  not  in  its  executive  capacity  work  a  wrong. 


The  laws  of  the  United  States  must  be  executed.  I 
have  no  discretionary  power  on  the  subject;  my  duty  is 
emphatically  pronounced  in  the  Constitution.  Those  who 
told  you  that  you  might  peaceably  prevent  their  execution 
deceive  you ;  they  could  not  have  been  deceived  them- 
selves. They  know  that  a  forcible  opposition  could  alone 
prevent  the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  they  know  that 
such  opposition  must  be  repelled.  Their  object  is  dis- 
union, by  armed  force  is  treason.  Are  you  really  ready 
to  incur  its  guilt?  If  you  are,  on  the  heads  of  the  insti- 
gators of  the  act  be  the  dreadful  consequences;  on  their 
heads  be  the  disorder,  but  on  yours  may  fall  the  punish- 
ment. 

Andrew  Jackson,  Proclamation  against  Nullification. 

THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  LAW^. 

What  the  law  has  said  I  say.  In  all  things  else  I  am 
silent.  I  have  no  organ  but  for  her  words.  This,  if  it 
be  not  ingenious,  I  am  sure  is  safe. 

Edmund  Burke,  Speech  on  moving  resolutions  for 
Reconciliation  with  America,  House  of  Commons,  March 

22,   1775. 

THE  LETTER  OF  THE  LAW. 

On  a  simple  letter  of  the  law  I  take  my  stand,  and  do 
not  go  beyond  what  is  there  nominated.  The  masses  of 
men  are  not  better  than  their  law. 

Charles  Sumner,  Address  at  the  Metropolitan  Theatre, 
New  York  city.  May  9,  1855. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  117 

THE  MISSION  OF  THE  LAW. 

The  mission  of  the  law,  as  the  chosen  apostle  of  free- 
dom, has  always  been  to  succor  the  oppressed,  the  feeble, 
the  suffering  and  the  poor,  and  to  minister,  in  the  spirit 
of  the  great  Master,  to  those  whom  Christ  blessed  upon 
the  mountain  of  Olives. 

Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  Speech  on  the  Liberty  of  the  Citi- 
zen, House  of  Representatives,  Feb'y  8,  1868. 

THE  OBEDIENCE  TO  LAW. 

Hutchinson,  at  that  time  Lieutenant  Governor  and 
Judge  in  ^Massachusetts,  wTote  to  a  minister  in  England  : 
"  The  Stamp  Act  is  received  with  as  much  decency  as 
could  be  expected.  It  leaves  no  room  for  evasion,  and 
will  execute  itself."  Like  the  judges  of  our  day,  in 
charges  to  grand  juries,  he  resolutely  vindicated  the  Act, 
and  admonished  the  jurors  and  the  people  to  obey  like  the 
governors  of  our  day.  Bernard,  in  his  speech  to  the 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  demanded  unreasoning 
submission.  "  I  shall  not,"  says  this  British  Governor. 
"  enter  into  any  disquisition  on  the  policy  of  this  act.  I 
have  only  to  say  that  it  is  an  act  of  the  Parliament  of 
Great  Britain,  and  I  trust  that  the  supremacy  of  that 
parliament  over  all  the  members  of  their  wide  and  dif- 
fused empire  never  was  and  never  will  be  denied  within 
these  walls."  Like  marshals  of  our  day,  the  officers  of 
the  customs  made  "  application  for  a  military  force  to 
assist  them  in  the  execution  of  their  duty."  The  mili- 
tary were  against  the  people.  A  British  Major  of  artil- 
lery at  New  York  exclaimed,  in  tones  not  unlike  those 
sometimes  now  heard.  "  I  will  cram  the  stamps  down 
their  throats  with  the  end  of  my  sword."  The  elaborate 
answer  of  Massachusetts — a  paper  of  historical  grandeur 
— drawn  by  Samuel  Adams,  was  pronounced  "  the  rav- 


118  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

ings  of  a  parcel  of  wild  enthusiasts."  Thus  in  those  days 
spoke  the  partisans  of  the  Stamp  Act.  But  their  weak- 
ness soon  became  manifest.  In  the  face  of  an  awakened 
community  where  discussion  has  free  scope,  no  men, 
though  surrounded  by  office  and  wealth,  can  long  sustain 
injustice.  Earth,  water,  nature,  they  may  subdue.  Sub- 
tile and  mighty  against  all  efforts  and  devices,  it  fills 
every  region  of  light  with  its  majestic  presence.  The 
Stamp  Act  was  discussed  and  understood.  Its  violation 
of  constitutional  rights  was  exposed. 

Charles  Sumner,  Speech  in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  August 
26,  1852,  on  his  motion  to  repeal  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill. 


A  man  is  bound  to  obedience,  and  punishable  for  dis- 
obedience of  laws : — first,  because,  by  living  within  their 
jurisdiction,  he  avails  himself  of  their  protection — and 
this  is  no  more  than  the  reciprocity  of  protection,  and 
allegiance  on  a  narrower  scale;  and,  secondly,  because, 
by  so  living  within  their  jurisdiction,  he  has  the  means 
of  knowing  them,  and  cannot  be  excused  because  of  his 
ignorance  of  them. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Judge  Johnson,  Court  of 
Exchequer,  Feb'y  4,  1805. 

THE  PROFESSION  OF  THE  LAW. 

The  very  business  of  our  profession  is  to  study  out  the 
rights  of  other  men,  and  to  observe  them ;  and  therefore  a 
lawyer,  above  all  others,  before  every  tribunal,  whether  it 
be  erected  in  the  arch  of  the  heavens  above,  or  upon  the 
face  of  the  earth,  is  entitled  to  the  least  charitable  con- 
sideration, for  such  misdeeds  as  are  wanton  encroach- 
ments upon  what  belongs  to  his  neighbor. 

John  Graham,  in  Sickles'  trial,  Washington,  Feb'y, 
1859. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  119 

Business  men  may  have  a  lucky  stroke  of  fortune; 
preachers  may  buy  or  borrow  sermons ;  quacks  may  win 
riches  by  a  patent  medicine,  but  the  lawyer  can  rely  on 
no  one  but  himself.  He  is  like  the  knight  in  the  ancient 
tournament,  when  the  herald  sounded  the  trumpet,  and 
rode  down  the  lists — whether  he  splintered  his  enemy's 
lance,  or  was  unhorsed  himself,  depended  upon  his  own 
prowess  and  skill. 

Chaiincex  M.  Depezv,  Address  before  Columbia  Law 
School,  March  17,  1884. 


I  belong,  sir,  to  a  profession  which  is  glorious  in  his- 
tory. I  rejoice  that  I  have  spent  some  days  of  my  man- 
hood in  the  study  of  a  science  in  the  adornment  of  which 
Erskinc  and  Curran,  Webster  and  Grimke,  spent  their 
lives.  The  legal  profession  has  had  much  to  bear  in 
the  hostile  criticism  provoked  by  an  unworthy  class  who 
inhabit  the  vestibule  of  her  temple,  and  allure  to  their 
meshes  the  vmwary  pilgrims  who  seek  her  shrine  for  sub- 
stantial relief.  The  artful  trickery  of  ignoble  minds  has 
been  assigned  as  an  attribute  of  the  profession  of  the  law, 
and  its  lower  walks ;  that  pestilential  brood  which  swarms 
around  the  base  of  the  pedestal  of  honorable  fame,  has, 
to  the  casual  observer,  sanctioned  such  a  view.  But  this 
is  all  unjust.  There  is  an  atmosphere  near  the  sun  in 
which  the  great  jurists  of  twenty  generations  dwell. 
They  have  been  the  forerunners  of  legal  liberty.  They 
have  never  hung  u])on  the  skirts  of  governmental  prog- 
ress. Other  professions  have  formed  technical  barri- 
cades against  the  advance  of  popular  freedom,  and  ques- 
tioned the  divinity  of  the  people ;  but  those  who  have 
drunk  deep  from  the  fountain  of  that  "  perfection  of 
reason,"  English  and  American  law,  recognize  the  voice 


120  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

of  the  people  as  the  voice  of  God.  It  is  matter  of  record 
that  the  legal  profession  has  been  the  patient,  the  toiling, 
and  the  inspired  handmaiden  of  liberty. 

Daniel  IV.  Voorhees,  Speech  on  the  Liberty  of  the 
Citizen,  House  of  Representatives,  Feb'y  8,  1868. 

THE  PROTECTION  OF  THE  LAW. 

Burke  said  in  one  of  those  immortal  orations  which 
emptied  the  House  of  Commons,  but  which  will  be  read 
with  admiration,  so  long  as  the  English  tongue  shall  en- 
dure, that  when  the  laws  of  Great  Britain  were  not  strong 
enough  to  protect  the  humblest  Hindoo  upon  the  shores 
of  the  Ganges,  the  nobleman  was  not  safe  in  his  castle 
upon  the  banks  of  the  Thames. 

John  J.  Ingalls,  Speech  in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  Jan'y  14, 
1 89 1,  on  the  Evils  that  threaten  the  Republic. 


Gentlemen,  all  you  possess  on  earth  is  the  reward  of 
labor  protected  by  law.  It  is  law  alone  which  keeps  all 
things  in  order,  guards  the  sleep  of  infancy,  the  energy 
of  manhood,  and  the  weakness  of  age.  It  hovers  over 
us  by  day ;  it  keeps  watch  and  ward  over  the  slumbers  of 
the  night ;  it  goes  with  us  over  the  land,  and  guides  and 
guards  us  through  the  trackless  paths  of  the  mighty 
waters.  The  high  and  the  low,  each  are  within  its  view, 
and  beneath  its  ample  folds.  It  protects  beauty  and 
virtue,  punishes  crime  and  wickedness,  and  vindicates 
right.  Honor  and  life,  and  liberty,  and  property,  the 
wide  world  over,  are  its  high  objects.  Stern,  yet  kind; 
pure,  yet  pitying;  steadfast,  immutable  and  just;  it  is  the 
attribute  of  God  on  earth.  It  proceeds  from  His  bosom, 
and  encircles  the  world  with  its  care  and  power  and  bless- 


IVIAXUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  121 

ings.    All  honor  and  praise  to  those  who  administer  it  in 
purity,  and  who  reverence  its  high  behests. 

/.  A.    Van  Dyke,  in  conspiracy  case,  Detroit,  Mich., 
Sept.  185 1. 


Our  lives  would  not  be  worth  the  living  unless  the  law 
was  maintained  and  enforced.  That  all  our  liberties  and 
blessings  arise  out  of  the  protection  offered  by  the  law 
— to  this  the  defense  most  heartily  subscribes.  We  all 
live  under  the  law ;  we  must  all  yield  obedience  to  the 
law ;  we  all  are  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  law. 

You,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  sitting  in  this  box  as 
jurors,  are  just  as  much  under  the  law  as  when  at  your 
homes  carrying  on  the  usual  pursuits  of  life ;  and  as 
jurors  you  must  yield  obedience  to  the  law,  and  the  ac- 
cused is  just  as  much  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  law 
as  any  citizen  of  the  State.  Your  oath,  gentlemen  of  the 
jury,  is  to  try  the  case  according  to  the  law  and  the  evi- 
dence. 

Charles  IV.  Smith,  for  defense  in  People  v.  Hinshazv, 
Danville,  Ind.,  Sept.  14,  1895, 


All  men  are  equally  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the 
laws,  but  all  men  are  not  equally  entitled  to  an  extraordin- 
ary interposition  and  protection  beyond  the  common  dis- 
tributive forms  of  justice. 

Lord  Erskine,  Trial  of  Captain  Bailie,  Court  of  King's 
Bench,  Noz'.  24,  1778. 

THE  REASONING  OF  LAW. 

In  a  system  like  that  of  law,  which  reasons  logically, 
no  one  erroneous  principle  can  be  introduced   without 


122  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

producing  every  other  that  can  be  deducible  from  it.  If 
in  the  premises  of  any  argument  you  admit  one  erroneous 
proposition,  nothing  but  bad  reasoning  can  save  the  con- 
clusions from  falsehood. 

John  P.  Ciirran,  Trial  of  Peter  Finnerty,  publisher  of 
the  "Press,"  Dec.  22,  lygy. 

THE  SANCTION  OF  THE  LAAV. 

The  sanction  of  all  law  is  that  it  is  the  expression  by 
popular  election  of  the  will  of  a  majority  of  our  people. 
Law  has  no  other  sanction  than  that  with  us ;  and  happy 
are  we,  and  happy  are  those  communities  where  the  elec- 
tion methods  are  so  honestly  and  faithfully  prescribed 
and  observed  that  no  doubt  is  thrown  upon  the  popular 
expression  and  no  question  of  the  integrity  of  the  ballot 
is  ever  raised. 

Edmund  Burke. 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  DISLOYALTY  TO  LAW. 

Ah !  gentlemen,  there  is  a  worse  evil  abroad  through 
this  land,  than  the  over-shadowing  power  of  corporations. 
There  are  isms  of  dreadful  and  fearful  import  around 
us.  They  "  menace  our  public  institutions  and  private 
rights."  There  is  a  spirit  of  disloyalty  to  law  and  coun- 
try ;  a  tendency  to  forsake  the  old  landmarks ;  to  treat  the 
lessons  of  sages  which  come  down  from  our  fathers,  as 
antiquated  and  worn  out ;  to  speak  lightly  of  our  hallowed 
Union;  to  abandon  those  pure,  steadfast  and  perpetual 
principles  which  have  sanctified  our  past,  and  which  can 
alone  save  our  future;  and  to  rear  and  plant  in  their 
stead  a  "  higher  law/'  which  each  one  for  himself  may 
adjudge  and  administer. 

/.  A.  Van  Dyke,  in  conspiracy  case,  Detroit,  Mich., 
Sept.  1 85 1. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  123 

THE  STUDY  OF  THE  LAAV. 

This  study  renders  men  acute,  inquisitive,  dexterous, 
prompt  in  attack,  ready  in  defense,  full  of  resources.  In 
other  countries  the  people,  more  simple  and  of  a  more 
mercurial  cast,  judge  of  an  ill  principle  in  government 
only  by  an  actual  grievance.  Here  they  anticipate  the 
evil  and  judge  of  the  pressure  of  the  grievance  by  the 
badness  of  the  principle.  They  auger  misgovernment  at 
a  distance  and  snuff  the  approach  of  tyranny  in  every 
tainted  breeze. 

Edmund  Burke,  Speech  on  moving  resolutions  for  con- 
ciliation -with  America. 

WHAT  THE  LAW  PUNISHES. 

A  man  might  begin  a  crime  and  stop  short,  and  be  far 
from  committing  the  act.  He  might  go  on  one  step  fur- 
ther, without  incurring  guilt.  It  is  only  the  completion  of 
the  crime  that  the  law  punishes. 

Edmund  Randolph,  in  defense  of  Aaron  Burr,  Circuit 
Court  of  U.  S.,  Richmond,  Va.,  May,  1807. 

AFFIRMATIVE    LAWS  AND  REPEALS. 

Buckle,  the  most  philosophic  of  all  historians,  either 
ancient  or  modern,  told  us  that  the  state  and  the  law- 
maker seldom,  if  ever,  render  a  benefit  to  mankind  by 
the  enactment  of  affirmative  laws ;  that  it  is  rather  by  the 
repealing  of  obnoxious,  vicious  enactments  that  they 
entitle  themselves  to  the  gratitude  of  humanity. 

C.  S.  Blackburn,  Speech  in  Congress,  April  3,  1879,  in 
reply  to  Mr.  Garfield. 

LAWS  AND   THEIR  APPLICATION. 

Ad  ca  quae  frcqucntius  accidunt  jura  adaptantur. 
The  laws  are  adapted  to  those  cases  which  most  fre- 
quently occur. 


IStt  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

HUMAN  LAWS  AND  INSTINCT. 

When  human  laws  do  not  protect  us  against  injury,  we 
appeal  to  our  instincts ;  we  are  thrown  upon  the  law  of 
our  instincts,  and  have  a  right  to  defend  ourselves 
against  those  wrongs.  This  position  will  be  perceived, 
upon  examination,  to  be  well  founded.  There  is  no  law 
in  this  district  which  says  you  have  a  right  to  defend 
yourself  against  attack,  except  the  law  of  nature.  It 
would  be  folly  to  pass  a  statute  to  declare  that  a  man 
may  defend  himself  against  the  assault  of  a  highway- 
man, or  if  a  statute  were  passed  on  a  subject  like  that, 
it  would  be  folly  to  say  that,  before  the  statute  was 
passed,  you  had  not  the  right  of  self-defense.  Self-pres- 
ervation is  nature's  great  law,  and  it  overrides  all  other 
laws.  Two  men  are  floating  on  a  plank,  and  it  is  neces- 
sary that  one  should  be  drowned  in  order  that  the  other 
may  be  saved.  It  is  not  murder  in  the  person  who,  to 
save  his  own  life,  drowns  the  other,  when  two  persons 
are  so  situated,  because  the  law  considers  that  all  social 
regulations  must  yield  to  those  great  principles  which  are 
implanted  in  us,  and  are  a  part  of  us  as  we  came  from  the 
hands  of  the  Creator. 

John  Graham,  in  Sickles '  trial,  Washington,  Feb'y, 
1859. 


It  will  be  conceded,  that  all  crime,  punishable  by  hu- 
man authority,  consists  in  the  violation  of  some  rule  of 
conduct  declared  and  published  by  some  competent 
source.  The  principle  is  fundamental.  It  underlies  the 
administration  of  criminal  justice  by  all  tribunals, 
whether  military  or  civil.  To  constitute  offense  there 
must  be  law  existing  and  law  violated ;  and  the  law  which 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  125 

declares  it,  must  be  proclaimed  and  public.  If  it  exist 
in  the  form  of  positive  enactment,  it  must  be  punished. 
If  it  be  customary  law,  it  must  be  general,  uniform,  ac- 
knowledged. The  citizen  cannot  be  entrapped  into  crime. 
He  must  be  notified  of  the  demands  of  society  in  all  the 
departments  of  its  action,  whether  of  peace  or  war,  be- 
fore obedience  can  be  exacted,  and  disobedience  punished. 
In  a  government  of  laws  those  acts  only  are  criminal 
which  the  law  condemns  ;  and  publicity  is  one  of  its  ma- 
terial requisites.  The  idea  of  secret  statutes,  withheld 
from  the  subject  whose  conduct  they  are  to  regulate,  is 
hostile  to  every  principle  of  just  government,  and  excites 
the  sternest  indignation.  Hence  the  ponderous  statutes 
of  our  national  and  State  legislatures,  declaring  and  de- 
fining crime,  publicly  enacted  and  widely  promulgated. 
Hence  the  principle  of  antiquity  involving  immemorial 
recognition,  upon  which  the  common  law  rests.  Hence, 
also,  it  is,  that  all  are  chargeable  with  knowledge  of  the 
law.  Ignorance  of  its  mandate  will  not  excuse  the 
offender.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  subject  to  know  it,  and 
knowing,  to  obey  it.  The  existence  of  the  implication  and 
duty,  demands  the  correlative  obligation  of  government, 
to  publish  its  requirements.  Men  cannot  be  required  to 
know  that  which  is  unrevealed,  or  to  obey  that  which  is 
unannounced.  They  cannot  be  punished  but  for  sinning 
with  knowledge,  or  with  the  means  of  knowledge.  His- 
tory has  immortalized  the  shame  of  the  ancient  lawgiver, 
whose  edicts  were  only  published  upon  the  city  walls, 
high  above  the  observation  of  the  people.  And  if  ever  an 
American  citizen  shall  be  condemned  under  an  unknown 
law,  history  will  be  true  to  her  trust,  and  perpetuate  the 
memory  and  condemnation  of  the  prodigious  wrong. 

IVilliajH  A.  Beach,  in  the  case  of  North  et  al,  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  Feb'y,  1865. 


126  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

NEW  LA^VS. 

Among-  an  ancient  people  a  man  who  proposed  a  new 
law  did  so  with  a  rope  around  his  neck — signifying  his 
willing-ness  to  be  hung  if  it  worked  badly.  If  that  rule 
prevailed  with  us,  the  multitude  of  public  executions 
would  enforce  as  no  other  experience  could,  that  wise 
maxim. 

Chauncey  M.  Depczv,  Address  before  Columbia  College 
Law  School,  May  17,  1882. 

OBJECTIONS      TO      THE      CONSTITUTIONALITY      OF 
LAW^S. 

It  is,  nevertheless,  too  much  the  fashion  with  some 
politicians  when  hard  pressed  on  the  expediency  of  a 
measure,  to  entrench  themselves  behind  objections  to  its 
constitutionality — aware  that  there  is  naturally  in  the 
public  mind  a  jealous  sensibility  to  objections  of  that 
nature,  which  may  predispose  against  a  thing  otherwise 
acceptable,  if  even  a  doubt  in  this  respect  can  be  raised. 

Alexander  Hamilton  (Letter  in  defense  of  Jay's 
Treaty,   1796, — signed  Camillus). 

THE  OBJECT  OF  LAWS. 

In  civilized  communities  property  as  well  as  personal 
rights  is  an  essential  object  of  the  laws,  which  encourage 
industry  by  securing  the  enjoyment  of  its  fruits. 

James  Madison  (Notes  on  Suffrage,  1829J. 

THE  TYRANNY  OF  LAWS. 

"  Nephew,"  said  Algernon  Sidney,  in  prison  the  night 
before  his  execution,  "  I  value  not  my  own  life  a  chip; 
but  what  concerns  me  is,  that  the  law  which  takes  away 
my  life  may  hang  everyone  of  you  whenever  it  is  thought 
convenient."  Though  thus  comprehensive  in  its  pro- 
visions and  applicable  to  all,  there  is  no  safeguard  of  hu- 


IVIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  127 

man    freedom    which   the   monster   act    does   not   set   at 
naught. 

Charles  Stunner,  Speech  in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  Aug.  26, 
1852,  on  his  motion  to  repeal  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill. 

THE  VALIDITY  AND  BINDING  FORCE  OF  LAWS. 

The  foundation  of  the  EngHsh  constitution  rests  upon 
this  principle :  that  no  laws  have  any  validity  and  binding 
force  without  the  consent  and  approbation  of  the  people, 
given  in  the  persons  of  their  representatives,  periodically 
elected  by  themselves.  This  constitutes  the  Democratical 
part  of  the  Government. 

Alexander  Hamilton  (Article  in  reply  to  "  the  farmer," 
and  reviezv  of  the  disputes  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
Colonies,  Feb'y  5,  1755;. 

UNJUST  LAWS. 

There  was  a  deep  philosophy  in  the  confession  of  an 
eminent  English  judge.  When  he  had  condemned  a 
young  woman  to  death  under  the  late  sanguinary  code  of 
his  country  for  her  first  petty  theft,  she  fell  down  dead 
at  his  feet.  "  I  seem  to  myself,"  said  he,  "  to  have  been 
pronouncing  sentence  not  against  the  prisoner,  but 
against  the  law  itself." 

W'illiam  fl.  Seicard,  Speech  in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  March 
II,  1850. 

THE  REQUISITES  OF  A  LAW^YER. 

Integrity  of  character  and  fidelit}'  to  opinions  and  duty 
are  the  first  requisites  of  a  good  lawyer.  The  property  of 
a  client  which  comes  into  his  possession  can  neither  be 
borrowed  nor  loaned.  It  is  a  sacred  trust,  to  be  instantly 
and  scrupulously  accounted  for. 

Chauncey  M.  Depeii',  before  the  Columbia  Lazv  School, 
May  17,  1882. 


128  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

LAWYERS  IN  HISTORY. 

They  have  codified  the  laws,  brushed  away  the  subtle- 
ties of  practice,  abolished  those  fictions  of  law  and  equity 
which  defeated  justice,  and  secured  to  women  the  ad- 
ministration and  disposition  of  their  property;  and  yet 
liberties  are  always  so  enlarged  as  to  preserve  essential 
rights. 

Chauncey  M.  Depew,  before  the  Columbia  Law  School, 
May  ly,  1882. 

THE  FIDUCIARY  RECORD  OF  LAW^YERS. 

Though  holding  larger  trusts  than  all  other  vocations 
combined,  and  without  security,  the  record  of  the  pro- 
fession in  its  fiduciary  relations  is  of  unexampled  purity. 

Chauncey  M.  Depew,  before  the  Columbia  Law  School, 
May  17,  1882. 

LEGAL  FICTIONS  AND  EQUITY. 

InRctione  juris  semper  aequitas  existit. 

A  legal  fiction  is  always  consistent  with  equity. 

LEGAL  TENDER  AND  THE  CURRENCY. 

South  Carolina  led  the  van  in  1703.  New  York  and 
Connecticut  followed,  and  made  their  notes  a  legal  tender 
in  1709.  Rhode  Island  fell  into  their  wake  in  1720; 
Pennsylvania  in  1722;  Maryland  in  1733;  Delaware  in 
1739;  North  Carolina  in  1748;  Virginia  in  1755;  Georgia 
in  1760.  In  two  of  the  States,  tobacco  and  beaver  skins 
were  made  a  legal  tender,  and  your  Honors  doubtless 
still  retain  your  schoolboy  memories  of  the  celebrated 
Parson's  Case,  in  which  Wirt  so  charmingly  interwove 
the  story  of  the  wrongs  of  the  clergy,  with  the  eloquence 
of  Patrick  Henry,  in  support  of  the  act  of  the  House  of 
Burgesses  of  Virginia,  authorizing  the  payment  in  gold 
and  silver  of  the  stipend  which,  in  right  of  the  church, 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  129 

they  claimed  to  be  payable  only  in  the  narcotic  com- 
mended by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  even  on  his  way  to  the 
scaffold. 

In  1 75 1,  the  imperial  parliament,  by  the  act  of  24 
George,  ch.  53,  sec.  2,  in  the  exercise  of  its  unlimited  and 
undoubted  power,  interdicted  the  further  emission  by  the 
Colonies  of  bills  of  credit  as  a  legal  tender.  That  country 
was  less  benign  to  our  fathers  than  to  its  later  Colonies; 
for  from  1833  to  the  present  hour,  the  notes  of  the  Bank 
of  England  have  been,  by  act  of  parliament,  a  legal  tender 
for  private  debts  in   every  part  of  the   British   empire. 

The  substantial  issue  is  on  the  right  to  make  the  notes 
of  the  United  States  a  legal  tender.  A  minor  issue  is 
raised  as  to  the  power  of  Congress  to  declare  them  to 
be  money.  That  is  a  question  of  very  trivial  moment,  as 
without  such  a  declaration  they  are  money  by  the  common 
recognition  of  all  civilized  communities.  If  Congress  had 
failed  to  make  the  declaration,  the  omission  would  be 
quite  immaterial,  as  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  had  held  treasury  notes  to  be  money,  even  before 
they  were  made  legal  tender. 

John  K.  Porter,  in  case  of  Metropolitan  Bank  v.  Van 
Dyke,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  June  27,  1863. 


LEGISLATION— DIVINE  AND  HUMAN. 

Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that,  when  the  great  Being 
above  said,  "  thou  shalt  not  steal,"  it  was  not  as  high  a 
crime  to  steal  before,  as  it  is  after  human  legislation  has 
said,  "  thou  shalt  not  steal  ?  "  When  the  great  Being 
above  said,  "  thou  shalt  not  kill."  and  "  thou  shalt  not 
bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbor,"  those  crimes 
were  perfect.     He  himself  pronounced  those  ordinances. 


130  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

Human  laws  may  enforce  them  with  additional  sanctions, 
but  do  not  impart  to  them  additional  solemnity. 

John    Graham,   in   Sickles'   trial,  Washington,   Feb'y, 

1859. 

THE  RESULTS  OF  CRIMINAL  LIBEL. 

The  criminality  of  a  mere  personal  libel  consists  in  this, 
that  it  tends  to  a  breach  of  the  peace ;  it  tends  to  all  the 
vindictive  paroxysms  of  exasperated  vanity,  or  to  the 
deeper  or  more  deadly  vengeance  of  irritated  pride.  The 
truth  is,  few  men  see  at  once  that  they  cannot  be  hurt  so 
much  as  they  think  by  the  mere  battery  of  a  newspaper. 

John  P.  Ciirran,  Trial  of  Peter  Finnerty,  publisher  of 
the  "Press,"  Dec.,  1797. 

LIBELS  AND  LIBELING. 

Libeling  is  not  the  crime  of  an  illiterate  people.  When 
they  were  thought  no  mean  clerks,  who  could  read  and 
write ;  when  he,  who  could  read  and  write,  was  presump- 
tively a  person  in  holy  orders,  libels  could  not  be  general 
or  dangerous ;  and  scandals  merely  oral  could  spread 
little,  and  must  perish  soon.  It  is  writing,  it  is  printing, 
more  emphatically,  that  imps  calumny  with  those  eagle 
wings,  on  which,  as  the  poet  says,  "  immortal  slanders 
fly."  By  the  press  they  spread,  they  last,  they  leave  the 
sting  in  the  wound.  Printing  was  not  known  in  England 
much  earlier  than  the  reign  of  Henry  VH.,  and  in  the 
third  year  of  that  reign  the  court  of  the  Star  Chamber 
was  established.  The  press  and  its  enemy  are  nearly 
coeval.  As  no  positive  law  against  libels  existed,  they 
fell  under  the  indefinite  class  of  misdemeanors.  For  the 
trial  of  misdemeanors  that  court  was  instituted ;  their 
tendency  to  produce  riots  and  disorders  was  a  main  part 
of  the  charge,  and  was  laid,  in  order  to  give  the  court 
jurisdiction  chiefly  against  libels.     The  ofifence  was  new. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  131 

Learning  of  their  own  upon  the  subject  they  had  none; 
and  they  were  obHged  to  resort  to  the  only  emporium, 
where  it  was  to  be  had,  the  Roman  law. 

We  have  in  a  libel,  ist.  The  writing.  2nd.  The  com- 
munication, called  by  the  lawyers  the  publication.  3rd. 
The  application  to  persons  and  facts.  4th.  The  intent 
and  tendency.  5th.  The  matter — diminution  of  fame. 
The  law-presumptions  on  all  these  are  in  the  communi- 
cation. No  intent  can  make  defamatory  publication  good, 
nothing  can  make  it  have  a  good  tendency;  truth  is  not 
pleadable. 

Edmund  Burke,  Speech  on  the  Duties  of  Juries  in  libel 
cases,  in  House  of  Commons,  March,  1771. 

LIBERTY. 

At  the  sea  shore  you  pick  up  a  pebble,  fashioned  after 
a  law  of  nature,  in  the  exact  form  that  best  resists  pres- 
sure, and  worn  smooth  as  glass.  It  is  so  perfect  that 
you  take  it  as  a  keepsake.  But  could  you  know  its  his- 
tory from  the  time  when  a  rough  fragment  of  rock  fell 
from  the  overhanging  cliff  into  the  sea,  to  be  taken  pos- 
session of  by  the  under  currents,  and  dragged  from  one 
ocean  to  another,  perhaps  around  the  world,  for  a  hun- 
dred years,  until  in  reduced  and  perfect  form  it  was  cast 
upon  the  beach  as  you  find  it,  you  would  have  a  fit  illus- 
tration of  what  many  principles,  now  in  familiar  use,  have 
endured,  thus  tried,  tortured  and  fashioned  during  the 
ages.  We  stand  by  the  river  and  admire  the  great  body 
of  water  flowing  so  sweetly  on  ;  could  you  trace  it  back 
to  its  source,  you  might  find  a  mere  rivulet,  but  meander- 
ing on,  joined  by  other  streams  and  by  secret  springs, 
and  fed  by  the  rains  and  dev/s  of  heaven,  it  gathers  vol- 
ume and  force,  makes  its  way  through  the  gorges  of  the 
mountains,  plows,  widens  and  deepens  its  channel  through 


132  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

the  provinces,  and  attains  its  present  majesty.  Thus  it  is 
that  our  truest  systems  of  science  had  small  beginnings, 
gradual  and  countless  contributions,  and  finally  took  their 
place  in  use,  as  each  of  you,  from  helpless  childhood  and 
feeble  boyhood,  have  grown  to  your  present  strength  and 
maturity.  No  such  system  could  be  born  in  a  day.  It 
was  not  as  when  nature  in  fitful  pulsations  of  her  strength 
suddenly  lifted  the  land  into  mountain  ranges,  but  rather, 
as  with  small  accretions,  gathered  in  during  countless 
years,  she  builds  her  islands  in  the  seas, 
Joseph  Neilson,  Address  at  Saratoga,  Aug.  i,  1875. 


Men  cannot  communicate  their  free  thoughts  to  one 
another  with  a  lash  held  over  their  heads.  It  is  the  na- 
ture of  everything  that  is  great  and  useful,  both  in  the 
animate  and  inanimate  world,  to  be  wild  and  irregular — 
and  we  must  be  contented  to  take  them  with  the  allies 
which  belong  to  them,  or  live  without  them.  Genius 
breaks  from  the  fetters  of  criticism,  but  its  wanderings 
are  sanctioned  by  its  majesty  and  wisdom,  when  it  ad- 
vances in  its  path;  subject  it  to  the  critic,  and  you  tame 
it  into  dulness.  Mighty  rivers  break  down  their  banks 
in  the  winter,  sweeping  away  to  death  the  flocks  which 
are  fattened  on  the  soil  that  they  fertilize  in  the  summer ; 
the  few  may  be  saved  by  embankment  from  drowning, 
but  the  flock  must  perish  from  hunger.  Tempests  occa- 
sionally shake  our  dwellings  and  dissipate  our  commerce ; 
but  they  scourge  before  them  the  lazy  elements,  which 
without  them  would  stagnate  into  pestilence.  In  like 
manner.  Liberty  herself,  the  last  and  best  gift  of  God  to 
His  creatures,  must  be  taken  just  as  she  is ;  you  might 
bear  her  down  into  bashful  irregularity,  and  shape  her 


]\L\NUxVL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  133 

into  a  perfect  model  of  severe  scrupulous  law,  but  she 
would  then  be  Liberty  no  longer ;  and  you  must  be  con- 
tent to  die  under  the  lash  of  this  inexorable  justice  which 
you  have  exchanged  for  the  banners  of  Freedom. 

Lord  Erskine,  in  defence  of  John  Stockdale,  tried  for 
libel,  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  Dec.  g,  1789. 

BRITISH  LIBERTY. 

I  speak  in  the  spirit  of  the  British  law,  which  makes 
liberty  commensurate  with,  and  inseparable  from  British 
soil;  which  proclaims  even  to  the  stranger  and  sojourner, 
the  moment  he  sets  foot  upon  British  earth,  that  the 
ground  on  which  he  treads  is  holy,  and  consecrated  by  the 
genius  of  Universal  Emancipation.  No  matter  in  what 
language  his  doom  may  have  been  pronounced ;  no  mat- 
ter what  complexion  incompatible  with  freedom,  an 
Indian  or  an  African  sun  may  have  burnt  upon  him. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  A.  JJ.  Rowan,  Jan'y  29,  1794. 

LIFE  AND  DEATH. 

Leave  the  door  of  clemency  open ;  do  not  shut  it  by 
wholesale  conviction.  Remember  that  life  is  an  awful 
and  sacred  thing;  remember  that  death  is  terrible — terri- 
ble at  any  time  and  in  any  form.  But  when  to  the  fright- 
ful mien  of  the  grim  monster,  when  to  the  chilled  visage 
of  the  spirit  of  the  glass  and  scythe,  is  added  the  hated, 
dreaded  sjjectre  of  the  gibbet,  we  turn  shuddering  from 
the  accumulated  horror. 

Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  Trial  of  John  E.  Cook,  Charles- 
ton, Va.,  Nov.  8,  1859. 

LIMITATIONS  AND  STATUTES. 

KuUuni  tenipus  occiirrit  regi. 

Lapse  of  time  docs  not  bar  the  right  of  the  crown. 


134  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

THE  FOUNDATION  OF  LOYALTY. 

Engage  the  people  by  their  affections,  convince  their 
reason,  and  they  will  be  loyal  from  the  only  principle 
that  can  make  loyalty  sincere,  vigorous,  and  rational — a 
conviction  that  it  is  their  truest  interest,  and  that  their 
government  is  for  their  good. 

Lord  Erskine,  in  defense  of  Thomas  Paine. 

MAGISTRATES. 

Public  example  requires  that  a  magistrate  should  stand 
or  fall  by  his  heart ;  that  is  the  only  part  of  a  magistrate 
vulnerable  in  law  in  every  civilized  country  in  the  world. 

Lord  Erskine,  in  defense  of  George  Stratton  and  others, 
in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  Eeb'y  5,  1780. 

THE  MAN  AND  HIS  HOME. 

It  is  a  well  settled  legal  principle,  that  every  man's 
house  is  his  castle — for  the  security  of  himself  and  his 
family.  The  word  "  castle  "  is  a  term  of  the  law.  It  does 
not  signify  that  a  man  keeps  his  family  within  battle- 
mented  walls — but  it  is  used  as  a  figure  of  speech  to  de- 
note that  his  residence,  though  it  be  a  hut  which  can 
neither  keep  the  rain  nor  sunshine  from  penetrating  its 
roof,  is  nevertheless,  for  every  moral  and  legal  purpose, 
as  much  a  fortress  as  if  it  were  constructed  for  one. 

JoJin  Graham,  in  Sickles'  trial,  Washington,  Feb'y, 
1859. 

A  VALID  MARRIAGE. 

Consensus,  non  conctihitus,  facit  matrimonium. 
It  is  the  consent  of  the  parties,  not  their  concubinage, 
which  constitutes  a  valid  marriage. 

THE  EVIDENCE  OF  MARRIAGE. 

"  Evidence  of  marriage ;  "  may  it  please  your  honor, 
what  is  evidence  of  marriage  ?    Why,  living  together,  may 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  135 

it  please  your  honor ;  cohabiting  together,  may  it  please 
your  honor;  introducing  each  other  as  man  and  wife; 
walking  in  the  sacred  relations  as  such ;  rearing  up  chil- 
dren together,  may  it  please  your  honor ;  that  going  down 
into  the  valley  and  shadow  of  death  that  a  wife  assumes 
in  such  relations ;  and  for  all  these  they  were  married ; 
they  were  married  when  he  enjo}-ed  the  bloom  of  her 
youth  and  loving  tenderness ;  married  when  he  drank 
deep  of  her  heart's  young  affections ;  married  when  it 
flattered  his  fancy  to  control  her  beauty ;  but  when  we 
come  to  that  after-stage  of  life,  where  the  fire  and  fervor 
fade  from  the  eye,  and  age  comes  stealing  over  the  fea- 
tures and  dims  their  brightness,  when,  of  all  times  mar- 
riage is  to  life  most  sacred,  when  they  should  be  leading 
each  other  hand  in  hand  down  the  western  slope  of  life's 
steep  hill,  to  rest  together  at  its  foot  in  a  long  repose; 
just  as  they  entered  on  that  sacred  journey,  then  it  is 
that  this  monster  of  humanity  seeks  to  cast  her  off,  and 
bastardize  her  children  !  Not  married  !  Not  married ! 
Who,  then,  is  married? 

IVilliam  A.  Beach,  in  the  Brinklcy  case,  New  York, 
June,  1873. 

MEANING  OF  "MALICIOUSLY." 

What  does  "maliciously"  mean?  To  constitute  the 
crime,  the  killing  must  not  only  be  done  purposely,  but 
also  maliciously.  Tt  is  a  word  frequently  used  by  us  all. 
It  means  simply,  in  this  connection,  intense  hatred  in  the 
heart  of  the  murderer  towards  his  victim.  It  is  evidenced, 
says  a  law  writer,  by  a  depraved  or  malignant  spirit.  It 
is  exhibited,  when  a  wrong  doer  acts  wholly  regardless 
of  .social  duty.  It  is  evidenced  by  a  rooted  design  to  do 
mischief.  It  means,  in  comnKjn  parlance — revenge.  In 
legal  contemplation  its  presence  is  always  presumed  in  the 


136  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

perpetration  of  an  unlawful  act.  If  you  should  step  upon 
the  street  and  wantonly  take  the  life  of  a  passer-by,  the 
presumption  would  be  that  it  was  done  maliciously. 

General  Thomas  M.  Brown,  in  Foster-Hatfield  trial, 
Indianapolis,  Jan'y,  1872. 

MERCY. 

Sitting  there  a  representative  of  60,000,000  of  people,  I 
ask  you  to  be  merciful.  It  never  yet  soiled  the  ermine. 
Your  honor  can  afford  to  be  merciful.  I  heard  Judge 
Armfield  say  once  that  he  had  never  imposed  the  maxi- 
mum punishment  on  any  one,  for  fear  a  greater  offender 
might  come  before  him,  and  he  would  have  no  punishment 
to  mete  out  proportionate  to  the  offence.  The  more  mer- 
ciful we  are  the  nearer  we  draw  to  Him,  the  Father  of 
us  all,  the  all-merciful. 

/.  R.  Holland,  in  his  ozvn  behalf,  Charlotte,  N.  C,  May 
14,  1895. 

FROM  THE  MIDDLE  WALKS  OF  LIFE. 

Born  of  a  parent  stock  occupying  the  middle  walks  of 
life,  and  possessed  of  all  those  tender  and  domestic  virtues 
which  escape  the  contamination  of  those  vices  that  dwell 
on  the  frozen  peaks,  or  in  the  dark  and  deep  caverns  of 
society,  he  would  not  have  been  here  had  precept  and 
example  been  remembered  in  the  prodigal  wanderings  of 
his  short  and  checkered  life.  Poor  deluded  boy !  way- 
ward, misled  child !  An  evil  star  presided  over  thy  natal 
hour  and  smote  it  with  gloom. 

Daniel  IV.  Voorliees,  plea  for  John  E.  Cook,  at  Charles- 
ton, Va..  Nov.  8,  1859. 

MILITARY  POWER, 

He  then  avowed  it  to  be  his  settled  and  deliberate 
opinion  that  the  military  might  "  take  and  kill,  try  and 
execute  "  (I  use  his  own  words)  persons  who  had  no  sort 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  137 

of  connection  with  the  army  or  navy.  And  thou^^h  this 
be  done  in  the  face  of  the  open  courts,  the  judicial  au- 
thorities, according  to  him,  are  utterly  powerless  to  pre- 
vent the  slaughter  which  may  thus  be  carried  on.  That  is 
the  thesis  which  the  attorney-general  and  his  assistant 
counsellors  are  to  maintain  this  day,  if  they  can  maintain 
it,  with  all  the  power  of  their  artful  eloquence. 
Judge  Black,  on  Right  of  Trial  by  Jury. 

THE  HUMAN  MIND. 

What  is  the  human  mind  ?  It  is  immaterial,  spiritual, 
immortal ;  an  emanation  of  the  divine  intelligence,  and 
if  the  frame  in  which  it  dwells  had  preserved  its  just 
and  natural  proportions,  and  perfect  adaptation,  it  would 
be  a  pure  and  heavenly  existence.  But  that  frame  is 
marred  and  disordered  in  its  best  estate.  The  spirit  has 
communication  with  the  world  without,  and  acquires  im- 
perfect knowledge  only  through  the  half-opened  gates  of 
the  senses.  If,  from  original  defects,  or  from  accidental 
causes,  the  structure  be  such  as  to  cramp  or  restrain  the 
mind,  it  becomes  or  appears  to  be  weak,  diseased,  vicious 
and  wicked. 

IVilliam  JJ.  Sezvard,  in  case  of  People  v.  Freeman. 

MODESTY. 

When  Washington  came  back  from  the  French  and 
English  wars,  and  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Burgesses, 
he  was  met  by  a  vote  of  thanks,  and  as  he  rose  to  re- 
spond, his  emotion  overcame  him.  and  he  couldn't  speak. 
The  Speaker  of  the  House,  Mr.  Robinson,  came  promptly 
to  his  rescue,  and  said:  "  Sit  down,  Mr.  Washington,  sit 
down.  Your  modesty  is  equaled  only  by  your  valor,  and 
that  surpasses  the  power  of  any  language  I  possess." 

Frederick  W.  I^ehman,  for  plaintiff,  in  Pulitzer  v, 
Jones,  St.  I^ouis,  Jan'y  lo,  1896, 


138  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

MONEY. 

One  of  the  first  powers  given  to  Congress,  therefore, 
is  that  of  coining  money  and  fixing  the  value  of  foreign 
coins ;  and  one  of  the  first  restraints  imposed  on  the 
States  is  the  total  prohibition  to  coin  money.  These  two 
provisions  are  industriously  followed  up  and  completed 
by  denying  to  the  States  all  power  to  emit  bills  of  credit, 
or  to  make  anything  but  gold  and  silver  a  tender  in  the 
payment  of  debts.  The  whole  control,  therefore,  over 
the  standard  of  value  and  medium  of  payments  is  vested 
in  the  general  government. 

Daniel  Webster,  in  Ogden  v.  Saunders. 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  MONEY. 

We  have  heard  much  of  this  noble  Lord's  wealth,  and 
much  of  his  exploits,  but  not  much  of  his  accomplish- 
ments or  his  wit.  I  know  not  that  his  verses  have  soared 
even  to  the  poet's  corner.  I  have  heard  it  said  that  an 
ass  laden  with  gold  could  find  his  way  through  the  gate 
of  the  strongest  city.  But,  gentlemen,  lighten  the  load 
upon  his  back,  and  you  will  completely  curtail  the  mis- 
chievous faculty  of  a  grave  animal,  whose  momentum 
lies  not  in  his  agility,  but  his  weight ;  not  in  the  quantity 
of  motion,  but  the  quality  of  his  matter. 

John  P.  Ciirran,  in  case  of  Massy  v.  Hcadfort. 

THE  PAYMENT  OF  MONEY. 

Oiiicqiiid  solvitur,  solvitnr  secundum  modimi  solventis 
— quicqiiid  recipitnr,  recipitnr  secundum  modiim  recipi- 
entis. 

Money  paid  is  to  be  applied  according  to  the  intention 
of  the  party  paying  it ;  and  money  received,  according  to 
that  of  the  recipient. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  139 

MOTIVE. 

When  actions  may  have  one  meaning  or  another,  ac- 
cording to  various  interpretations  and  the  point  of  view 
from  which  they  are  approached,  the  discovery  of  the 
true  motive  that  prompts  them  is  never  easy.  Whether 
Caesar  really  wanted  the  kingly  crown  will,  perhaps,  never 
be  known.  \^olumes  may  yet  be  written  in  the  effort  to 
hold  out  the  motives  of  Cromwell  or  to  determine  just 
how  far  our  own  Washington  was  prompted  by  selfish 
and  how  far  by  patriotic  impulses.  The  humblest  indi- 
vidual has  also  his  peculiar  mental  organization,  his  hopes, 
his  weaker  judgment,  a  thousand  surrounding  circum- 
stances impossible  to  foresee  and  beyond  control,  that 
constantly  lead  him  in  one  direction  or  impel  him  to 
take  another. 

Before  we  can  advance  one  step  toward  a  just  judg- 
ment as  to  what  was  in  the  mind  of  any  man  at  any  given 
time  we  must  at  least  get  a  measurably  correct  notion 
of  his  situation  and  surroundings  at  the  time  to  which 
our  inquiry  relates. 

John  B.  Elam,  for  defense  in  People  v.  Coffin,  Indian- 
apolis, Oct.  21,  1895. 


Motive  is  hidden  in  the  deeper  recesses  of  the  heart 
from  which  it  cannot  be  extracted  by  any  human  evi- 
dence. Often  God  is  the  only  being  who  can  correctly 
discern  motive.  In  this  case,  gentlemen  of  the  jury, 
the  State,  doing  the  best  it  could,  has  tried  to  ascribe  a 
motiv^e  to  the  defendant.  .  .  .  Remember,  gentle- 
men of  the  jury,  that  motive  for  any  crime  is  often  a 
very  liard  matter  to  discover.  Motive  usually  lies  hidden 
in  tiie  breast  of  the  criminal,  and  we  can  only  guess  at 


140  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

it  from  surrounding-  circumstances.  Sometimes,  it  is 
true,  circumstances  point  clearly  to  tlie  motive,  but  more 
often  they  do  not. 

Henry  N.  Spaan,  in  People  v.  Hinshaw,  Danville,  Ind., 
Oct.  I,  1895. 

MOTIVE  AND  ACTION. 

Motive  always  precedes  action.  Was  there  any  motive 
for  it?  If  we  establish  the  existence  of  the  seed,  we  shall 
feel  less  hesitation  in  being  convinced  of  the  production 
of  the  plant. 

6'.  5'.  Prentiss,  in  E.  C.  Wilkinson  case. 

MURDER. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Jury : — "  Thou  shalt  not  kill,"  and 
"  Whoso  sheddeth  man's  blood  by  man  shall  his  blood 
be  shed,"  are  laws  found  in  the  code  of  that  people  who, 
although  dispersed  and  distracted,  trace  their  history  to 
the  creation ;  a  history  which  records  that  murder  was 
the  first  of  human  crimes. 

William  H.  Seward,  in  case  of  People  v.  Freeman. 


"  Murder,"  says  Blackstone,  "  is  now  thus  defined,  or 
rather  described,  by  Sir  Edward  Coke :  '  When  a  person 
of  sound  memory  and  discretion  unlawfully  killeth  any 
reasonable  creature  in  being,  and  under  the  king's  peace, 
with  malice  aforethought,  either  express  or  implied.'  " 
The  same  author  defines  manslaughter  to  be  "  the  un- 
lawful killing  of  another  without  malice,  either  express  or 
implied ;  which  may  be  either  voluntary,  upon  a  sudden 
heat,  or  involuntary,  but  in  the  commission  of  some 
unlawful  act." 

Edwin  M.  Stanton,  in  Sickles'  trial. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  141 

MURDER  AND  INSANITY. 

Murder  was  not  only  murder  then,  but  insanity  was  a 
crime,  not  a  disease.  It  was  an  evil  spirit.  In  that  day 
theologians  gave  us  the  definition,  and  we  believed  it ; 
then  the  world  became  a  little  wiser,  and  metaphysicians 
took  it  up.  They  called  it  a  lack  of  intellect.  But  now 
we  know  that  it  is  a  disease. 

Henry  M.  Cheever,  in  Underwood  trial,  Detroit,  May, 
1874. 

THE  MURDERER. 

Gentlemen,  the  murderer  is  a  most  detestable  character. 
Far  be  it  from  me  to  defend  him  before  this  or  any  other 
jury.  Society  cannot,  it  ought  not,  to  contain  him. 
Calm,  cold,  and  calculating,  he  saves  his  malice  as  the 
miser  saves  his  treasure.  His  bosom  is  the  vault  in 
which  he  deposits  it.  Age  possesses  no  claim  upon  his 
consideration — nor  does  sex  interfere  with  him  in  the 
execution  of  his  bloody  purpose.  In  the  very  air  he 
sees  his  weapon,  and  it  marshals  him  "  the  way  that  he 
was  going."  He  selects  some  object  of  innocence  for  his 
victim,  and  chooses  some  lonely  spot  for  the  perpetration 
of  his  horrid  deed.  Tn  the  drapery  of  the  Night  he 
wraps  himself — and  at  that  hour  when 

"  O'er  the  one  half  world 
Nature  seems  dead,  and  wicked  dreams  abuse 
The  curtain'd  sleeper," 

he  steals  forth  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  bloody  de- 
sign. Afraid  of  his  own  movements,  he  is  compelled  to 
address  the  very  Earth  itself  in  the  language  of  suppli- 
cation— to  entreat  it  to 

"  Hear  not  his  steps,  whicli  way  they  walk,  for  fear 
The  very  stones  prate  of  his  whereabout." 

John  GraJiam,  in  Sickles'  trial. 


142  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

America  was  a  sovereign  nation  when  her  sons  stepped 
forth  to  resist  the  unjust  hand  of  oppression  and  declared 
themselves  independent.  The  consent  of  Great  Britain 
was  not  necessary  (as  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side 
urge)  to  create  us  a  nation.  Yes,  sir,  we  were  a  nation 
long  before  the  monarch  of  that  little  island  in  the  At- 
lantic ocean  gave  his  puny  assent  to  it.  America  was 
long  before  that  time  a  great  and  gallant  nation. 

Patrick  Henry,  in  Jones  z:   Walker,  Richmond,   Va., 
Nov.,   1 791. 
THE  FIRST  UTTERANCE  OF  THE  NATION. 

The  preamble  of  the  Constitution  is  the  first  utterance 
of  the  nation  as  an  organized  government.  It  is  the  proc- 
lamation of  their  will,  their  purpose  and  their  act,  by 
the  whole  American  people.  In  every  exigency  of  national 
existence,  it  continues  to  announce  to  the  government 
and  to  the  world  the  sovereign  objects  the  people  sought 
to  attain,  and  the  sovereign  powers  they  assumed  in  the 
Constitution  to  confer. 

John  K.  Porter,  in  case  of  Metropolitan  Bank  v.  Van 
Dyke,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  June  27,  1863. 

THE  LAW^  OF  NATIONS. 

Certain  maxims  and  customs  consecrated  by  long  use, 
and  observed  by  nations  between  each  other  as  a  kind 
of  law,  form  this  customary  law  of  nations,  or  the  custom 
of  nations.  This  law  is  founded  on  a  tacit  consent,  or, 
if  you  will,  on  a  tacit  convention  of  the  nations  that  ob- 
serve it,  with  respect  to  each  other.  Whence  it  appears 
that  it  is  only  binding  to  those  nations  that  have  adopted 
it,  and  that  is  not  universal,  anv  more  than  conventional 
laws.  It  must  be  here  also  observed  of  this  customary 
law,  that  the  particulars  relating  to  it  do  not  belong  to 
a  systematic  treatise  on  the  law  of  nations,  but  that  we 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  143 

ought  to  confine  ourselves  to  the  giving  a  general  theory 
of  it,  that  is,  to  the  rules  which  here  ought  to  be  ob- 
served as  well  with  respect  to  its  effects  as  in  relation 
to  the  matter  itself;  and  in  this  last  respect  these  rules 
will  serve  to  distinguish  the  lawful  and  innocent  customs 
from  those  that  are  unjust  and  illegal. 

Patrick  Henry,  in  case  of  Jones  v.  Walker,  Richmond, 
Va.,  Nov.,  lygi. 

NECESSITY. 

The  actual  situation  of  America  is  described  here,  where 
this  author  says,  "  that  right  goes  hand  in  hand  with 
necessity."  The  necessity  being  great  and  dreadful,  you 
are  v/arranted  to  la}-  hold  of  every  atom  of  money  within 
your  reach,  especially  if  it  be  the  money  of  your  enemies. 
It  is  prudent  and  necessary  to  strengthen  yourselves  and 
weaken  your  enemies.  \'attel,  book  3d,  ch.  8,  sec.  138, 
says:  "The  business  of  a  just  war  being  to  suppress 
violence  and  injustice,  it  gives  a  right  to  compel,  by  force, 
him  who  is  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice.  It  gives  a  right 
of  doing  against  the  enemy  whatever  is  necessary  for 
weakening  him,  for  disabling  him  from  making  any 
further  resistance  in  support  of  his  injustice;  and  the 
most  effectual,  the  most  proper  methods  may  be  chosen, 
provided  they  have  nothing  odious,  be  not  unlawful  in 
themselves,  or  exploded  by  the  law  of  nature."  Here  let 
me  pause  for  a  moment,  and  ask  whether  it  be  odious 
in  itself,  or  exploded  by  the  law  of  nature,  to  seize  those 
debts  ? 

Patrick  Henry,  in  case  of  Jones  v.  Walker. 

NECESSITY  AND   PRIVATE  RIGHTS. 

Neccssitas  inducit  prizilei^iiiui  quoad  jura  privata. 
With   respect  to  private  rights,  necessity  privileges  a 
person  acting  under  its  influence. 


144  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

NEGATIVE  PROOF. 

This  is  not  proof  at  all ;  it  is  a  character  which  is  al- 
ways scouted  from  the  appearance  of  positive,  afifirmative 
evidence.  What  one  man  did  not  see  is  often  seen  by 
many  others.  Instances  of  this  rule  are  very  familiar 
in  all  the  books. 

Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  H.  C.  Black. 
NEGLIGENCE  AS  TO  PROPERTY. 

If  husbands,  acting  under  the  generous  feelings  that 
are  encouraged  in  these  countries,  are  deceived,  and  if 
foul  advantages  are  taken  of  them,  it  is  hard  to  consider 
any  compensation  too  great  for  the  injury  they  sustain; 
but  if  the  husband  not  only  neglects,  but  almost  invites 
addresses  to  his  wife,  he  shall  not  be  compensated.  What 
is  the  law  in  other  cases?  Is  not  the  neglect  or  want  of 
vigilance  of  one's  property  considered  by  the  law  as 
not  entitled  to  redress?  Is  not  an  estate  often  lost  be- 
cause the  claim  has  not  been  made  in  a  reasonable  time? 

Hon.  George  Ponsonhy,  in  the  case  of  Massy  v.  Head- 
fort,  County  Clare,  Ire.,  Jidy  27,  1804. 

NE"WSPAPERS. 

We  are  a  nation  certainly  distinguished  for  three  things : 
for  newspapers,  politics,  and  tobacco.  I  do  not  know 
that  the  Americans  could  present  their  social  individual- 
ities by  any  better  signs.  Everybody  reads  the  papers, 
and  everybody  has  a  paper  given  him  to  read.  The  hack- 
man  waiting  for  his  fare  consumes  his  leisure  perusing 
the  paper.  The  apple-woman  at  her  stall,  reads  the 
paper.  At  the  breakfast  table,  the  dinner  table,  and  the 
supper  table,  the  paper  is  daily  read. 

James  T,  Brady,  in  case  of  Savannah  Privateers. 
NOTOTRIETV  AND  REPUTATION. 

It  may  as  well  be  said,  that  the  notoriety  of  a  man 
having  committed  a  crime  is  evidence  of  his  guilt.    Noto- 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  145 

riety  is  at  best  another  name  for  reputation,  which  can- 
not even  by  law  be  given  in  evidence  in  any  criminal 
case,  and  which,  a  fortiori,  could  not  sustain  a  verdict 
of  conviction. 

Jo/ni  P.  Ciirran,  Trial  of  Owen  Kirwan  for  high  trea- 
son, London,  Sept.  I,  1803. 

NURSING. 

Do  you  know  what  it  is  to  be  a  nurse?  Do  you  know 
what  it  is  to  spend  night  after  night  in  the  care  of  the 
sick  ?  Do  you  know  what  it  is  to  have  the  eye-lids  be- 
come so  heavy  they  feel  like  lead — exhaustion  so  great 
that  one  feels  like  dropping  in  his  tracks — anxiety — loss 
of  sleep,  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  nerves?  Do  you  know 
what  it  is  to  do  the  unpleasant  offices  of  a  sick-room? 
The  sick-room  is  not  simply  a  place  of  flowers ;  not  simply 
for  the  exchange  of  poetical  conversation.  It  is  a  place 
for  hard  offices.      Mrs.   Robert   Morrisson   did   all   that. 

Benjamin  Harrison,  in  Morrisson  will  case,  Indian- 
apolis, 1895. 

OBEDIENCE. 

It  is  no  part  of  a  sailor's  duty  to  moralize  and  to  specu- 
late, in  such  a  moment  as  this  was,  upon  the  orders  of 
his  superior  officers.  The  commander  of  a  ship,  like 
the  commander  of  an  army,  "  gives  desperate  commands." 
He  requires  instantaneous  obedience.  The  sailor,  like  the 
soldier,  obeys  by  instinct.  In  the  memorable,  iinmortal 
words  of  Carnot,  when  lie  surrendered  Antwerp,  in 
obedience  to  a  command  which  his  pride,  his  patriotism, 
and  his  views  of  policy  all  combined  to  oppose :  "  The 
armed  force  is  essentially  obedient ;  it  acts,  but  never  de- 
liberates." The  greatest  man  of  the  French  Revolution 
did  here  but  define,  with  the  precision  of  the  algebraist, 
what  he  conceived  with  the  comprehension  of  a  states- 


146  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

man;  and  his  answer  was  justification  with  every  soldier 
in  Europe! 
David  Paul  Brozvn,  in  the  Holmes  case. 

OBLIVION. 

The  oblivion  of  the  buried  is  as  profound  as  the  oblivion 
of  the  dead. 

John  P.  Curran,  in  Hevey  v.  Sirr,  May  ly,  1802. 

OFFICE  HOLDERS. 

All  history  proves  that  public  officers  of  any  govern- 
ment, when  they  are  engaged  in  a  severe  struggle  to 
retain  their  places,  become  bitter  and  ferocious,  and  hate 
those  who  oppose  them  even  in  the  most  legitimate  way, 
with  a  rancor  which  they  never  exhibit  toward  actual 
crime.  This  kind  of  malignity  vents  itself  in  persecu- 
tions for  political  offenses,  sedition,  conspiracy,  libel,  and 
treason,  and  the  charges,  spies  and  common  delators,  who 
make  merchandise  of  their  oaths  and  trade  in  the  blood 
of  their  fellow-men.  During  the  civil  commotions  in 
England,  which  lasted  from  the  beginning  of  the  reign 
of  Charles  I.,  to  the  revolution  of  1688,  the  best  men  and 
the  purest  patriots  that  ever  lived  fell  by  the  hand  of 
the  public  executioner.  Judges  were  made  the  instru- 
ments for  inflicting  the  most  merciless  sentences  on  men, 
the  latchets  of  whose  shoes  the  ministers  that  prosecuted 
them  were  not  worthy  to  stoop  down  and  unloose. 

Judge  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  on  Trial  by  Jury. 

AN  EXECUTIVE  OFFICER. 

But  a  public  executive  officer  has  one  plain  duty :  it  is 
to  enforce  the  law  with  kindness  and  forbearance,  but 
with  promptness  and  inexorable  decision.  He  may  not 
choose  what  laws  he  will  enforce  any  more  than  the 
citizen  may  choose  what  laws  he  will  obey.  We  have 
here  but  one  king:  it  is  the  law,  passed  by  those  consti- 


]\L\NUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  147 

tutional  methods  which  are  necessary  to  make  it  binding 
upon  the  people,  and  to  that  king  all  men  must  bow.  It 
is  my  great  pleasure  to  find  so  generally  everywhere  a 
disposition  to  obey  the  law.  I  have  but  one  message  for 
the  North  and  for  the  South,  for  the  East  and  the  West, 
as  I  journey  through  this  land.  It  is  to  hold  up  the  law, 
and  to  say  everywhere  that  every  man  owes  allegiance 
to  it,  and  that  all  law-breakers  must  be  left  to  the  de- 
liberate and  safe  judgment  of  an  established  tribunal. 
Benjamin  Harrison,  Speech   at  Salem,   Oregon. 

PUBLIC  OFFICIALS. 

The  lot  of  a  public  official  is  not  a  pleasant  one.  It 
has  its  disagreeable  offices  to  perform.  It  has  its  rec- 
ompense. To  a  man  charged  with  the  administration  of 
justice,  the  only  recompense  is  the  knowledge  that  he 
has  at  all  times  faithfully  discharged  his  duty.  The 
terrible  consequences  of  crime  falling  upon  the  heads  of 
those  who  are  in  no  way  responsible  for  their  com- 
mission is  not  satisfactory  to  a  public  official.  Often 
the  judge  upon  the  bench  pronounces  the  sentence  of  the 
law  with  feelings  of  sorrow  and  regret.  Often  jurors, 
loyal  to  their  obligations,  hand  up  a  verdict,  the  paper 
that  determines  the  question  of  guilt  or  innocence,  with 
a  trembling  hand  and  a  sorrowful  heart. 

U.  S.  District  Attorney  Frank  B.  Burke,  for  prosecu- 
tion, in  People  r.  Haughcy,  Indianapolis. 

THE  FREEDOM  OF  OPINION. 

But  I  maintain  that  opinion  is  free,  and  that  conduct 
alone  is  amenable  to  the  law. 

Lord  Rrskine,  in  defense  of  Thomas  Paine. 

THE  FORCE  OF  OPINION. 

The  ordinary  jurisdiction  of  the  court  bears  a  strong 
resemblance  to  the  narrow  cognizance  at  common  law ; 


148  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

but  its  extraordinary  jurisdiction  over  "  all  claims  which 
may  be  referred  to  it  by  either  house  of  Congress,"  ex- 
tends its  power  to  the  utmost  limits  attainable  by  juridical 
science  in  its  fullest  development.  In  this  aspect,  its  dig- 
nity and  importance  as  a  governmental  institution  cannot 
be  too  highly  appreciated.  As  a  means  by  which  rightful 
claims  against  the  government  may  be  readily  established, 
and  those  not  founded  in  justice  promptly  driven  from 
the  portals  of  Congress,  it  must  exercise  a  most  healthful 
influence.  But  we  are  authorized  to  look  higher  than 
the  mere  convenience  of  suitors  and  the  dispatch  of  public 
business.  Enlightened  patriotism  will  contemplate  other 
and  more  important  consequences.  Caprice  can  no  longer 
control.  Here  equity,  morality,  honor  and  good  con- 
science must  be  practically  applied  to  the  determination 
of  claims,  and  the  actual  authority  of  these  principles  over 
governmental  action  ascertained,  declared  and  illustrated 
in  permanent  and  abiding  forms.  As  step  by  step,  in 
successive  decisions,  you  shall  have  ascertained  the  duties 
of  government  toward  the  citizen,  fixed  their  precise 
limits  upon  sound  principles,  and  armed  the  claimant  with 
means  of  securing  their  enforcement,  a  code  will  grow 
up,  giving  effect  to  many  rights  not  heretofore  practically 
acknowledged.  In  it  will  be  found  enshrined  for  the 
admiration  of  succeeding  ages  an  honorable  portraiture 
of  our  national  morality,  and  a  full  vindication  of  the 
eulogium  recently  pronounced  upon  our  people  by  the 
highest  authority  in  the  parent  State.  "  Jurisprudence," 
says  Lord  Campbell,  in  the  Queen  v.  Millis,  "  is  the  de- 
partment of  human  knowledge  to  which  our  brethren  in 
the  United  States  of  America  have  chiefly  devoted  them- 
selves, and  in  which  they  have  chiefly  excelled." 

Charles  O'Conor,  in  Armstrong  case,  Washington,  D. 
C,  Nov.  27,  1855, 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  14-9 

OPPRESSION. 

If  it  be  true,  as  the  wisest  of  inspired  writers  hath 
said,  "  Verily  oppression  maketh  a  wise  man  mad,"  what 
may  we  not  expect  it  to  do  with  a  foolish,  ignorant, 
illiterate  man !  Thus  it  is  explained  why,  when  he  came 
out  of  prison,  he  was  so  dull,  stupid,  morose ;  excited  to 
anger  by  petty  troubles,  small  in  our  view,  but  moun- 
tains in  his  way ;  filled  in  his  waking  hours  with  moody 
recollections,  and  rising  at  midnight  to  sing  incoherent 
songs,  dance  without  music,  read  unintelligible  jargon, 
and  combat  with  imaginary  enemies. 

William  H.  Seward,  in  case  of  People  v.  Freeman. 


What  do  you  think  an  eminent  man  said,  in  the  British 
Parliament,  about  the  outbreak  of  our  revolution,  and 
the  condition  of  things  then  existing  in  America  ?  "  When- 
ever oppression  begins,  resistance  becomes  lawful  and 
right."  Who  said  that?  The  great  associate  of  Chatham 
and  Burke,  Lord  Camden.  At  that  time  Franklin  was 
in  Europe,  seeking  to  obtain  a  hearing  before  a  com- 
mittee of  parliament  in  respect  to  the  grievances  of  the 
American  people.     It  was  refused. 

James  T.  Brady,  in  case  of  Savannah  Privateers. 

PARENT  AND  CHILD. 

The  next  greatest  tic  is  that  of  parent  and  child.  If 
in  God's  providence  a  man  has  not  only  watched  over 
the  cradle  of  his  child,  but  over  the  grave  of  his  off- 
spring, and  has  witnessed  earth  committed  to  earth,  ashes 
to  ashes,  and  dust  to  dust,  he  knows  llial  the  love  of  a 
parent  for  his  child  is  stronger  than  death.  The  bitter 
lamentation — "  Would  to  God  I  had  died  for  tlicc  " — 
has  been  wrung  from  many  a  parent's  heart.     But  when 


150  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

the  adulterer's  shadow  comes  between  the  parent  and 
child,  it  casts  over  both  a  gloom  darker  than  the  grave. 
What  agony  is  equal  to  his  who  knows  not  whether  the 
children  gathered  around  his  board  are  his  own  offspring 
or  an  adulterous  brood,  hatched  in  his  bed.  To  the  child 
it  is  still  more  disastrous.  Nature  designs  that  children 
shall  have  the  care  of  both  parents ;  the  mother's  care  is 
the  chief  blessing  to  her  child — a  mother's  honor  its 
priceless  inheritance.  But  when  the  adulterer  enters  a 
family,  the  child  is  deprived  of  the  care  of  one  parent, 
perhaps  of  both.  When  death,  in  God's  providence,  strikes 
a  mother  from  the  family,  the  deepest  grief  that  preys 
upon  a  husband's  heart  is  the  loss  of  her  nurture  and 
example  to  his  orphan  child ;  and  the  sweetest  conversa- 
tion between  parent  and  child  is  when  they  talk  of  the 
beloved  mother  who  is  gone.  But  how  can  a  father  name 
a  lost  mother  to  his  child,  and  how  can  a  daughter  hear 
that  mother's  name  without  a  blush?  Death  is  merciful 
to  the  pitiless  cruelty  of  him  whose  lust  has  stained  the 
fair  brow  of  innocent  childhood  by  corrupting  the  heart 
of  the  mother,  whose  example  must  stain  the  daughter's 
life. 

Edzvin  M.  Stanton,  in  Sickles'  trial. 

PASSION  AND  INSANITY. 

Passion,  however  strong,  terrible  or  emotional,  is  not 
insanity.  It  would  destroy  government  almost  to  allow 
anger  to  excuse  from  criminal  responsibility.  Anger  has 
more  frequently  dyed  its  hand  in  human  gore  than  hatred 
or  revenge.  It  has  nerved  the  arm  and  directed  the  blow 
in  many  of  the  most  heartless  and  brutal  murders  that 
have  ever  disgraced  the  world. 

Thomas  M.  Brozvn,  in  Foster-Hatfield  trial,  Indian- 
apolis, Jan'y,  1872. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  151 

PARLIAMENT  AND    THE  PEOPLE 

It  is  the  duty  of  Parliament  to  listen  to  the  voice  of 
the  people;  for  they  are  the  servants  of  the  people. 
Lord  Erskine,  in  defense  of  Lord  George  Gordon. 

PARTIES  IN  A  TRANSACTION. 

Res  inter  alios  acta  alteri  noccre  non  debet. 
A  transaction  between  two  parties  ought  not  to  operate 
to  the  disadvantage  of  a  third. 

THE  NATIONAL  PATENT  LAW. 

Why  was  it  thought  a  matter  of  sufficient  importance 
to  confer  this  power  upon  the  national  government?  The 
answer  to  this  question  will  be  found  in  the  history  of 
the  country,  in  the  nature  of  our  institutions,  and  the 
great  national  objects  which  the  Constitution  had  in 
view.  The  country  was  in  its  infancy;  its  population 
was  small,  its  territory  immense;  it  had  recently  thrown 
off  its  bondage  by  the  war  of  the  revolution,  and  was 
left  exhausted  and  poor — poor  in  everything  but  virtue 
and  the  love  of  country.  It  was  still  dependent  on  the 
arts  of  Europe  for  all  the  comforts  and  almost  all  the 
necessaries  of  life.  Wc  had  hardly  any  manufactures, 
science  or  literature  of  our  own.  Our  statesmen  saw 
the  great  destiny  which  was  before  the  nation,  but  they 
saw  also  the  necessity  of  exciting  the  energies  of  the 
people,  of  invoking  the  genius  of  invention,  and  of  creat- 
ing and  diffusing  the  lights  of  science.  These  were  the 
objects  in  which  the  whole  nation  was  concerned,  and 
were,  therefore,  naturally  and  properly  confided  to  the 
national  government.  The  States,  indeed,  might  have 
exercised  their  inherent  power  of  legislating  on  this  sub- 
ject; but  their  si)here  of  action  was  comjjaratively  small; 
their  regulations  would  naturally  have  been  various  and 
conflicting.     Discouragement  and  discontent  would  have 


152  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

arisen  in  some  States  from  the  superior  privileges  con- 
ferred on  the  works  of  genius  in  others;  contests  would 
have  ensued  among  them  on  the  point  of  the  originality 
of  invention ;  and  laws  of  retortion  and  reprisal  would 
have  followed.  All  these  difficulties  would  be  avoided  by 
giving  the  power  to  Congress,  and  giving  it  exclusively 
by  the  States.  If  it  were  wisely  exerted  by  Congress, 
there  could  be  no  necessity  for  a  concurrent  exercise  of 
the  power  by  the  States. 

William  Wirt,  in  Gibbon  v.  Ogden,  Washington,  D.  C, 
Feb'y,  1854. 

THE  SECURITY  OF  PATENTS. 

The  constitutional  power  of  Congress  is  to  patent 
useful  discoveries.  The  patent  authorizes  the  patentee  to 
use  his  invention,  and  it  is  the  use  which  is  secured. 
When  a  discovery  is  deemed  useful  by  the  national  gov- 
ernment, and  a  patent  shall  issue  authorizing  the  patentee 
to  use  it  throughout  the  United  States,  and  the  patentee 
shall  be  obstructed  by  a  State  in  the  exercise  of  this 
right,  on  the  ground  that  the  discovery  is  useless  and 
dangerous,  it  will  be  time  enough  to  consider  the  power 
of  the  States  to  defeat  the  exercise  of  the  right  on  this 
ground. 

William  Wirt,  in  Gibbon  v.  Ogden. 
THE   SEVERITY   OF  PENAL  LAW^S. 

Need  I  prove  the  impolicy  of  severe  penal  laws  ?  They 
have  ever  been  found  more  to  exasperate  than  to  re- 
strain. When  the  infliction  is  beyond  the  crime,  the 
horror  of  the  guilt  is  lost  in  the  horror  of  the  punish- 
ment; the  sufiferer  becomes  an  object  of  commiseration; 
and  the  injustice  of  the  state,  of  public  odium.  It  was 
well  observed  that,  in  England,  the  highwayman  never 
murdered,  because  there  the  offender  was  not  condemned 
to  torture!     But,   in    France,   where   the   offender   was 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  153 

broken    on    the    wheel,    the    traveler    seldom    or    never 
escaped ! 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Lady  Fitzgerald — Irish  Com- 
mons, Aug.  20,  1790. 

THE  DEMAND  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

When  Cicero  impeached  Verres  before  the  great  tri- 
bunal of  Rome  of  singular  cruelties  and  depredations  in 
her  provinces,  the  Roman  people  were  not  left  to  such 
inquiries.  All  Sicily  surrounded  the  Forum,  demanding 
justice  upon  her  plunderer  and  spoiler,  wuth  tears  and 
imprecations.  It  was  not  by  the  eloquence  of  the  orator, 
but  by  the  cries  and  tears  of  the  miserable  that  Cicero 
prevailed  in  that  illustrious  cause.  Verres  fled  from  the 
oaths  of  his  accusers,  and  their  witnesses,  and  not  from 
the  voice  of  Tully,  To  preserve  the  fame  of  his  elo- 
quence, he  composed  his  five  celebrated  speeches,  but 
they  were  never  delivered  against  the  criminal,  because 
he  had  fled  from  the  city  appalled  with  the  sight  of  the 
persecuted  and  oppressed. 

Lord  Erskine,  in  defense  of  John  Stockade,  London, 
Dec.  9,  1789. 

PERJURY. 

You  will  do  well  to  consider  it  was  through  a  perjured 
witness  that  a  Russell  and  a  Sidney  were  convicted  in 
the  reign  of  James  II.  If  juries  are  not  circumspect  to 
determine  only  by  the  evidence  adduced  before  them,  and 
not  from  any  extraneous  matter,  nor  from  the  slightest 
breath  of  prejudice,  then  what  will  become  of  our  boasted 
trial  by  jury? 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Oliver  Bond  for  high  treason, 
London,  July  24,   1798. 


The  law  of  the  country  has  said  that  the  man  once 
convicted  of  false  swearing  shall  not  a  second  time  con- 


154f  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

taminate  the  walls  of  a  court  of  justice;  and  it  is  the 
very  essence  of  a  jury,  that  if  a  man  appears  (though  not 
yet  marked  out  by  the  law  as  a  perjurer)  to  have  soiled 
his  nature  by  the  deliberate  commission  of  this  crime, 
that  moment  his  credit  shall  cease  with  the  jury — his 
evidence  shall  be  blotted  from  their  minds,  and  leave 
no  trace  but  horror  and  indignation. 
John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Dr.  Dennan,  June  25,  1794. 

THE  PERJURER. 

I  do  not  think  I  ever  saw  a  perjurer,  however  bald  and 
naked,  who  could  not  invent  some  pretext  to  palliate  his 
crime,  or  who  could  not,  for  fifteen  shillings,  hire  an 
Old  Bailey  lawyer  to  invent  some  for  him. 

Robert  Toombs,  Speech  in  U.  S.  Senate,  on  Secession, 
July,  1 86 1. 

PERPLEXITY. 

"Perplexed  in  the  extreme" — "Perplexed  in  the  ex- 
treme." He  came  to  know  what  I  trust  few  hearts 
know — 

"  What  damned  minutes  tells  he  o'er, 
Who  dotes  yet  doubts,  suspects,  yet  strongly  loves." 

Rufus  Choate,  in  D  alt  on  divorce  case. 

PERSECUTION. 

Indifferent  to  their  virtues,  they  treasure  up  their  vices 
and  erect  a  standard  to  judge  of  character.  So  the 
scavenger,  as  he  creeps,  with  bended  back  and  earthward 
eye,  along  your  city  streets  and  shims  the  pleasant  spots, 
the  shaded  walks,  visiting  the  loathsome  alleys  and  gutters 
for  the  foul,  rejected  matter,  reeking,  noisome,  disgust- 
in? — gathered  from  the  half-filled  ditch,  treasuring 
only  what  is  foul !  In  all  my  experience  I  have 
never  seen  a  man  so  treated.  There  is  a  class  of 
men  to  whom  this  human  hunt  is  a  pleasant  pastime 


IMANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  155 

— an  exciting  game.  There  is  a  kind  of  ferocity 
in  human  nature,  a  sort  of  blood-thirstiness,  which  creeps 
in  men  of  weakness,  who  never  attack  the  strong;  but 
no  sooner  is  a  fellow  mortal  down,  than  they  fall  upon 
and  tear  him  like  vultures  on  a  carrion — too  cowardly 
to  prey  upon  the  living,  they  will  descend  into  the  grave, 
drag  out  the  carcass  from  its  moldering  repose,  and  feed 
upon  the  festering  remains.  Let  man  be  unfortunate, 
let  him  be  down,  and  they  hasten  to  this  rich  repast.  But 
there  are  two  kinds  of  men  with  which  it  is  useless  to 
make  personal  issues.  The  one  whose  character  is  too 
bad  to  be  made  -worse,  the  other  so  good  that  it  cannot 
he  injured!  No  rank  or  position  can  screen  a  man  from 
just  censure  due  to  wrong  and  injustice — right,  even- 
handed  justice  to  all,  even  the  meanest.  Equal  rights — 
fair  play,  are  the  jewels  dearest  to  the  heart  of  every 
man. 

John  Van  Arman,  in  conspiracy  case,  Detroit,  Mich., 
Sept.,  1 85 1. 


Is  it  confined  to  vulgar  criminals,  who  commit  ordinary 
crimes  against  society,  and  shall  it  be  denied  to  men  who 
are  accused  of  such  ofifenses  as  those  for  which  Sidney 
and  Russell  were  beheaded,  and  Alice  Lisle  was  hung, 
and  Elizabeth  Gaunt  was  burnt  alive,  and  John  Bunyan 
was  imprisoned  fourteen  years,  and  Baxter  was  whipped 
at  the  cart's  tail,  and  Prynn  had  his  ears  cut  ofif?  No; 
the  words  of  the  Constitution  are  all-embracing — 
"  As  broad  and  general  as  the  casing  air." 

Judge  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  on  Trial  by  Jury. 

PERSONAL   RIGHTS  OF  ACTION. 

Actio  personalis  moritur  ciiui  persona. 

A  personal  right  of  action  dies  with  the  person. 


156  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

PIRATES. 

A  word  more  about  piracy:  A  pirate  is  an  offender 
against  the  law  of  nations.  He  is  called  in  the  Latin,  and 
by  the  jurists,  the  enemy  of  the  human  race.  Any  nation 
can  lay  hold  of  him  on  the  high  seas,  take  him  to  its 
country,  and  punish  him.  Now,  if  a  ship  of  war — 
British,  French,  Russian,  or  of  any  other  nation — should 
meet  with  a  piratical  craft,  she  would  capture  and  con- 
demn it  in  the  courts  of  her  country,  and  the  crew  would 
suffer  the  punishment  of  pirates.  No  one  will  dispute 
that  proposition.  But  if  such  a  ship  of  war  had  met 
with  the  privateer  Savannah,  even  in  the  very  act  of 
capturing  the  Joseph,  would  she  have  captured  the  Savan- 
nah or  attempted  to  arrest  her  crew  as  pirates? 

James  T.  Brady,  in  case  of  the  Savannah  Privateers. 

POLITICAL  REBUILDING. 

I  have  of  late  seen  too  much  of  political  rebuilding,  not 
to  have  observed,  that  to  demolish  is  not  the  shortest 
way  to  repair. 

John  P.  Curran,  in  defense  of  Peter  Finnerty. 

POWER  AND  MERCY. 

Let  the  leader  of  the  mutiny  on  ship-board  perish ;  but 
if  it  appears  that  young  men  have  followed  false  guidance, 
and  been  bound  in  the  despotism  of  an  iron  will,  order 
them  back  to  duty,  and  give  them  one  more  chance  to 
show  whether  they  are  worthy  of  life  or  death.  Virginia 
can  thus  afford  to  act.  It  is  one  of  the  chief  bless- 
ings of  power  that  it  can  extend  mercy  to  the  weak, 
and  the  crown  jewel  of  courage  is  magnanimity  to  the 
fallen. 

Daniel  IV.  Voorhees,  in  behalf  of  John  E.  Cook, 
Charleston,  Va.,  Nov.  8,  1859. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  157 

POWER    AND    RIGHT. 

Do  morals,  does  reason,  does  common  sense  recognize 
that,  because  power  and  right  may  result  in  the  same 
consequences,  therefore  there  is  no  difference  in  their 
quality,  or  in  their  support,  or  in  their  theory?  If  I 
am  slain  by  the  sword  of  justice  for  my  crime,  or  by  the 
dagger  of  an  assassin  for  my  virtue,  I  am  dead,  under 
the  stroke  of  either.  But  is  one  as  right  as  the  other? 
An  oppressive  government  may  be  overthrown  by  the 
uprising  of  the  oppressed,  and  Lord  Camden's  maxim 
may  be  adhered  to,  that  "  when  oppression  begins,  re- 
sistance becomes  a  right ;  "  but  a  government,  beneficent 
and  free,  may  be  attacked,  may  be  overthrown  by  tyranny, 
by  enemies,  by  mere  power. 

William  M.  Evarts,  in  case  of  Savannah  Privateers. 

EXCLUSIVE  POWER. 

The  exclusive  nature  of  every  power  is  to  be  tested 
by  the  character  of  the  acts  which  Congress  is  to  pass. 
This  is  the  case  with  the  naturalization  laws.  The  ex- 
clusiveness  of  the  power  to  establish  them  resulted  from 
their  character  of  uniformity.  So  here,  the  exclusive- 
ness  results  from  the  character  of  the  right  which  they 
are  to  confer.  It  is  to  be  exclusive.  It  is  not^  indeed, 
said  that  Congress  shall  have  the  exclusive  power  but  it 
is  said  that  they  shall  have  power  to  do  a  certain  act, 
which,  when  done,  shall  be  exclusive  in  its  operation. 
The  power  to  do  such  an  act  must  be  an  exclusive  power. 
It  can,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  performed  only  by  a 
single  hand.  Is  not  the  power  of  one  sovereign  to  confer 
exclusive  rights  on  a  given  subject,  within  a  certain 
territory,  inconsistent  with  a  power  in  another  independent 
sovereign,  to  confer  exclusive  rights  on  the  same  subject, 
in  the  same  territory  ?    Do  not  the  powers  clash  ? 

William  Wirt,  in  Gibbon  v.  Ogdcn. 


158  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

PREMEDITATING. 

Premeditating-  means  purpose  to  kill  deliberately  formed 
— meditated  upon ;  and  then  executed ;  murder,  if  in  the 
second  degree,  means,  that  the  killing  was  done  with 
malice,  and  malice  means  that  state  of  mind  in  which 
the  man  is  fatally  bent  on  mischief,  utterly  .  regardless 
of  all  social  duty  or  moral  obligation. 

The  next  thing  to  which  I  desire  to  call  your  attention 
is  the  spirit  with  which  we  are  to  enter  upon  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  charges. 

Charles  W.  Smith,  for  defense,  in  People  v.  Hinshaw, 
Danville,  Ind.,  Sept.  14,  1895. 

A  FREE  PRESS. 

The  press  must  be  free;  it  has  always  been  so  and 
much  evil  has  been  corrected  by  it.  If  Government  finds 
itself  annoyed  by  it,  let  it  examine  its  own  conduct  and 
it  will  find  the  cause — let  it  amend  it  and  it  will  find 
the  remedy. 

Lord  Erskine,  in  defense  of  Thomas  Paine. 

BENEFITS   OF   THE   PRESS. 

A  free  and  unlicensed  press,  in  the  just  and  legal  sense 
of  the  expression,  has  led  to  all  the  blessings,  both  of 
religion  and  government,  which  Great  Britain,  or  any 
part  of  the  world,  at  this  moment  enjoys,  and  is  calculated 
still  further  to  advance  mankind  to  higher  degrees  of 
civilization  and  happiness.  But  this  freedom,  like  every 
other,  must  be  limited  to  be  enjoyed,  and,  like  every 
human  advantage,  may  be  defeated  by  its  abuse. 

Lord  Erskine,  in  Williams  trial,  London,  June  24, 
1797- 

FREEDOM  OF  THE  PRESS. 

What  then  remains?  The  liberty  of  the  press  only — 
that  sacred  palladium,  which  no  influence,  no  power,  no 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  159 

minister,  no  government,  which  nothing,  but  the  depravity, 
or  folly,  or  corruption  of  a  jury,  can  ever  destroy. 

John   P.    Curran,   Trial  of  A.   H.   Rowan,   Jan'y  29, 

1794- 

GOVERNMENT  AND  A  FREE  PRESS. 

Government  in  its  own  estimation  has  been  at  all  times 
a  system  of  protection ;  but  a  free  press  has  examined 
and  detected  its  errors  and  the  people  have  from  time  to 
time  reformed  them. 

Lord  Erskine,  in  defense  of  Thomas  Paine. 

INFLUENCE  OF  THE  PRESS,  ETC. 

At  home,  it  has,  in  truth,  produced  a  gradual  revolu- 
tion in  our  government.  By  increasing  the  number  of 
those  who  exercise  some  sort  of  judgment  on  public 
affairs,  it  has  created  a  substantial  democracy,  infinitely 
more  important  than  those  democratical  forms  which  have 
been  the  subject  of  so  much  contest.  So  that  I  may  ven- 
ture to  say,  England  has  not  only  in  its  forms  the  miost 
democratical  government  that  ever  existed  in  a  great 
country,  but  in  substance  has  the  most  democratical  gov- 
ernment that  ever  existed  in  any  country:  if  the  most 
substantial  democracy  be  that  state  in  which  the  greatest 
number  of  men  feel  an  interest  and  express  an  opinion 
upon  political  questions,  and  in  which  the  greatest  number 
of  judgments  and  wills  concur  in  influencing  public 
measures. 

Sir  James  Mackintosh,  in  defense  of  Jean  Peltier,  Lon- 
don, Feh'y,  1803. 

THE  PRESS  IN   MONARCHICAL   GOVERNMENTS. 

In  great  monarchies,  the  press  has  always  been  con- 
sidered as  too  formidable  an  engine  to  be  intrusted  to 
unlicensed  individuals.     But,  in  other  continental  coun- 


160  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

tries,  either  by  the  laws  of  the  State,  or  by  long  habits 
of  liberality  and  toleration  in  magistrates,  a  liberty  of 
discussion  has  been  enjoyed,  perhaps  sufficient  enough 
for  most  useful  purposes.  It  existed,  in  fact,  where  it 
was  not  protected  by  law ;  and  the  wise  and  generous 
connivance  of  governments  was  daily  more  and  more 
secured  by  the  growing  civilization  of  their  subjects.  In 
Holland,  in  Switzerland,  in  the  imperial  towns  of  Ger- 
many, the  press  was  either  legally  or  practically  free. 
Sir  James  Mackintosh,  in  Jean  Peltier  trial. 

THE  LIBERTY  OF   THE  PRESS  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

But  the  facts  are  too  recent  in  your  mind  not  to  show 
you,  that  the  liberty  of  the  press  and  the  liberty  of  the 
people  sink  and  rise  together;  that  the  liberty  of  speak- 
ing and  the  liberty  of  acting  have  shared  exactly  the 
same  fate. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Peter  Finherty. 

THE  PRESS  AND  NATIONAL  SPIRIT. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that,  in  the  year  of  the  Armada, 
Queen  Elizabeth  caused  to  be  printed  the  first  gazettes 
that  ever  appeared  in  England ;  and  I  own,  when  I  con- 
sider that  this  mode  of  rousing  a  national  spirit  was 
then  absolutely  unexampled,  that  she  could  have  no 
assurance  of  its  efficacy  from  the  precedents  of  former 
times,  I  am  disposed  to  regard  her  having  recourse  to 
it  as  one  of  the  most  sagacious  experiments ;  one  of  the 
greatest  discoveries  of  political  genius,  one  of  the  most 
striking  anticipations  of  future  experience  that  we  find 
in  history.  I  mention  it  to  you  to  justify  the  opinion 
that  I  have  ventured  to  state  of  the  close  connection  of 
our  national  spirit  with  our  press,  even  our  periodical 
press. 

Sir  James  Mackintosh,  in  Jean  Peltier  trial. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  161 

This  is  the  true  value  of  a  free  press :  the  more  men 
are  enlightened  the  better  will  they  be  qualified  to  be  good 
subjects  of  a  good  government. 

Lord  Erskine,  in  defense  of  James  Perry  and  others, 
tried  for  libel,  Court  of  King's  fiench,  Dec.  g,  1793. 

PRESUMPTION  AGAINST  WRONG  DOERS. 

Omnia  praestimuntiir  contra  spoliatorem. 

Every  presumption  is  made  against  a  wrong  doer. 

PRESUMPTION  AS  TO  ACTS. 

Omnia  praesumuntur  rite  et  solenniter  esse  acta. 
All  acts  are  presumed  to  have  been  rightly  and  regularly 
done. 

BAR  TO  LEGAL  PROCEEDINGS. 

Non  potest  adduci  exceptio  ejusdem  rei  cujiis  petitur 
dissohitio. 

A  matter  the  validity  of  which  is  at  issue  in  legal  pro- 
ceedings cannot  be  set  up  as  a  bar  thereto. 

PROFESSIONAL  SKILL. 

Cuilibet  in  sua  arte  perito  est  credendum. 

Credence  should  be  given  to  one  skilled  in  his  peculiar 
profession. 
PROMISE  AND  CAUSE  OF  ACTION. 

Ex  nudo  pacto  non  oritur  actio. 

No  cause  of  action  arises  from  a  bare  promise. 

PROPERTY— ITS  RIGHTS  AND  LIABILITIES. 

Sic  ulere  tuo  ut  alienum  non  laedas. 
Enjoy  your  own  property  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to 
injure  that  of  another  person. 

EQUAL   RIGHTS   AND   CLAIMS   TO   PROPERTY. 

In  aequali  jure  melior  est  conditio  possidoitis. 
Where  tlic   riqlit   is  equal,  the  claim  of  the  party  in 
actual  possession   shall  prevail. 


162  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

PRIVATE  PROPERTY. 

A  king  has  a  greater  right  in  the  goods  of  his  subjects 
for  the  pubUc  advantage  than  the  proprietors  themselves. 
And  when  the  exigency  of  the  State  requires  a  supply, 
every  man  is  more  obliged  to  contribute  toward  it  than 
to  satisfy  his  creditors.  The  sovereign  may  discharge  a 
debtor  from  the  obligation  of  paying,  either  for  a  certain 
time  or  forever. 

Patrick  Henry,  argument  on  the  right  of  a  state,  during 
the  Revolution,  to  confiscate  British  debts,  Richmond, 
Va.,  Nov.  1 79 1. 

RIGHT  OF  PROPERTY. 

Nay,  more;  our  great  shield  of  constitutional  rights 
has  been,  by  the  fourteenth  amendment,  lately  brightened 
and  polished  so  that  it  blazes  before  the  face  of  injustice 
as  did  the  shield  of  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  when  he 
flashed  it  in  the  face  of  the  Saracen.  It  is  the  eternal 
principle,  new  and  old,  old  and  new,  and  I  speak  with 
reverence  when  I  say  it  might  be  said  of  it,  "  Before 
Adam  was,  I  am,"  that  no  citizen's  property,  to  the  least 
pin's  worth,  shall  be  taken  from  him  for  any  public  use 
or  private  purpose  without  due  compensation.  For  pri- 
vate purposes  not  at  all.  For  public  purposes  only  upon 
compensation. 

Benjamin  F.  Butler,  in  Elevated  R.  R.  case,  New  York, 
Jan'y,  1880. 


Describe  the  nature  of  a  debt :  it  is  an  engagement  or 
promise  to  pay,  but  it  must  be  for  a  valuable  considera- 
tion. If  this  be  clear,  was  not  the  title  to  whatever  prop- 
erty they  sold  us,  bad  in  every  sense  of  the  word  when 
the  war  followed  ?  What  can  add  value  to  property  ? 
Force.     Notwithstanding  the  equity  and  fairness  of  the 


JVIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  163 

debt  when  incurred,  if  the  security  of  the  property  re- 
ceived was  afterward  destroyed,  the  title  has  proved  de- 
fective. Suppose  millions  were  contracted  for  and 
received,  those  millions  give  you  no  advantage  without 
force  to  protect  them. 

Patrick  Henry,  on  the  right  of  a  state,  during  the  Revo- 
lution, to  confiscate  British  debts. 

RIGHTS  TO  COMMON  PROPERTY. 

The  law  of  nature,  the  law  of  justice,  would  say — 
and  it  is  so  expounded  by  the  publicists — that  equal  rights 
in  the  common  property  shall  be  enjoyed.  Even  in  a 
monarchy  the  king  cannot  prevent  the  subjects  from 
enjoying  equality  in  the  disposition  of  the  public  prop- 
erty. Even  in  a  despotic  government  this  principle  is 
recognized.  It  was  the  blood  and  the  money  of  the  whole 
people  (says  the  learned  Grotius,  and  say  all  the  publicists) 
which  acquired  the  public  property,  and  therefore  it  is 
not  the  property  of  the  sovereign. 

Robert  Toombs,  in  U.  S.  Senate,  on  Secession,  Jan'y 
7,  1861. 

RIGHTS  TO  PERSONAL  PROPERTY. 

Let  me  state  a  case.  You  own  a  number  of  bees.  They 
leave  your  land,  where  they  hived,  and  come  upon  mine, 
and  take  refuge  in  the  hollow  of  a  tree,  where  they 
deposit  their  honey.  They  are  your  bees,  but  you  cannot 
come  upon  my  land  to  take  them  away ;  and  though  they 
are  in  my  tree,  I  cannot  take  the  honey.  Such  a  case 
is  reported  in  our  State  adjudications.  But,  suppose  that 
I  did  take  the  bees  and  appropriate  the  honey  to  my  own 
use:  I  might  be  unjustly  indicted  for  larceny,  because  I 
took  the  property  of  another,  but  I  am  not,  consequently, 
a  thief  in  the  eye  of  the  law ;  the  absence  of  intent  to 
steal  would  insure  my  acquittal. 

James  T.  Brady,  in  case  of  Savannah  Privateers. 


1G4.  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

TRANSFER  OF  PROPERTY. 

Alicnatio  rci  pracfcrtiir  juri  accrescendi. 
Alienation   is   favored  by   the  law   rather  than   accu- 
mulation. 

PUBLIC  INJURIES. 

I  know,  sir,  how  well  it  becomes  a  liberal  man  and  a 
Christian  to  forget  and  to  forgive.  As  individuals  pro- 
fessing a  holy  religion,  it  is  our  bounden  duty  to  for- 
give injuries  done  us  as  individuals.  But  when  to  the 
character  of  Christian  you  add  the  character  of  a  patriot, 
you  are  in  a  different  situation.  Our  mild  and  holy 
system  of  religion  inculcates  an  admirable  maxim  of 
forbearance.  If  your  enemy  smite  one  cheek,  turn  the 
other  to  him.  But  you  must  stop  there.  You  cannot 
apply  this  to  your  country.  As  members  of  a  social 
community,  this  maxim  does  not  apply  to  you.  When 
you  consider  injuries  done  to  your  country,  your  political 
duty  tells  you  of  vengeance.  Forgive  as  a  private  man, 
but  never  forgive  public  injuries.  Observations  of  this 
nature  are  exceedingly  unpleasant,  but  it  is  my  duty  to 
use  them. 

Patrick  Henry,  in  Jones  v.  Walker. 

PUBLIC  SPIRIT  AND  THE  STATE. 

Of  whatever  elements  public  spirit  is  composed,  it  is 
always  and  everywhere  the  chief  defensive  principle  of  a 
state.  It  is  perfectly  distinct  from  courage.  Perhaps 
no  nation,  certainly  no  European  nation,  ever  perished 
from  an  inferiority  of  courage.  And  undoubtedly  no 
considerable  nation  was  ever  subdued  in  which  the  public 
affections  were  sound  and  vigorous. 

It  is  public  spirit  which  binds  together  the  dispersed 
courage  of  individuals  and  fastens  it  to  the  common- 
wealth.   It  is,  therefore,  as  I  have  said,  the  chief  defensive 


]VIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  165 

principle  of  every  country.  Of  all  the  stimulants  which 
arouse  it  into  action,  the  most  powerful  among  us  is 
certainly  the  press;  and  it  cannot  be  restrained  or  weak- 
ened without  imminent  danger  that  the  national  spirit 
may  languish,  and  that  the  people  may  act  with  less 
zeal  and  afifection  for  their  country  in  the  hour  of  its 
danger. 

Sir  James  Mackintosh,  trial  of  Jean  Peltier. 

PUBLIC  SECURITY. 

You  may  not  slay  him  then  for  the  public  security, 
because  the  public  security  does  not  demand  the  sacrifice. 
No  security,  for  home  or  hearth,  can  be  obtained  by  judi- 
cial murder.  God  will  abandon  him,  who,  through 
cowardly  fear,  becomes  such  a  murderer. 

William  //.  Seward,  in  case  of  People  v.  Freeman. 

THE  SAFETY  OF  THE  PUBLIC. 

Every  consideration  must  give  way  to  the  public  safety. 
That  admirable  Roman  maxim,  salus  populi  suprema  lex, 
governed  that  people  in  every  emergency.  It  is  a  maxim 
that  ought  to  govern  every  community.  It  was  not 
peculiar  to  the  Roman  people.  The  impression  came 
from  the  same  source  from  which  we  derive  our  existence. 
Self-preservation,  that  great  dictate  implanted  in  us  by 
nature,  must  regulate  our  conduct ;  we  must  have  a 
power  to  act  according  to  our  necessities,  and  it  remains 
for  human  judgment  to  decide  what  are  the  proper 
occasions  for  the  exercise  of  this  power. 

Patrick  Henry,  in  Jones  v.  Walker. 

THE  PUBLIC  ^VELFARE. 

Sahis  populi  suprema  lex. 

That  regard  to  be  had  to  the  public  welfare,  is  the 
highest  law. 


166  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

PUNISHMENT. 

Punishment  is  good  for  the  guilty,  but  when  admin- 
istered by  courts  of  law  it  is  administered  in  a  spirit 
of  sorrow  and  for  reformation,  not  with  vindictiveness. 
Punishment,  indeed !  Who  is  to  punish  the  betrayer  of 
female  honor?  Who  is  to  punish  the  serpent  that,  with 
his  slimy  track,  pursues  from  early  girlhood  into  budding 
womanhood  the  unfortunate  girl,  separates  her  from  her 
friends,  her  family,  and  leaves  her  alone  and  isolated, 
without  father  or  brother  to  defend  or  protect  her,  and 
then  throws  her  heartlessly  upon  the  world?  Who  is  to 
punish  him? 

James  Hughes,  Trial  of  Mary  Harris,  Washington,  D. 
C,  July,  1865. 

Sins  and  crimes  have  always  a  small  beginning.  A 
man  wakes  up  one  morning  to  find  himself  hopelessly 
involved.  He  has  turned  over  to  the  bank  the  accumula- 
tions of  a  lifetime,  to  repair  as  far  as  possible  to  his 
fellow  man  the  only  wrong  he  ever  did.  He  leaves  his 
family  penniless.  Is  it  punishment  the  United  States 
wants  ?  Has  he  not  already  suffered  ?  The  hopes  he  had 
when  he  took  to  his  bosom  the  wife  of  his  youth — they 
are  wrecked  I 

Colonel  H.  C.  Jones,  in  People  v.  Holland,  Charlotte, 
N.  C,  May  14,  1895. 


Rhadamanthus,  judge  of  hell  punished  first,  and  after- 
wards instituted  an  inquiry  into  the  guilt. 

Lord  Erskine,  in  defense  of  JVilliam  Davies  Shipley, 
the  Dean  of  St.  Asaph,  Shrewsbury,  Eng.,  Aug.  6,  1784. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  167 

THE  PURCHASER. 

Caveat  emptor. 

Let  the  purchaser  beware. 

AS  TO  QUARRELS. 

It  is  the  law  that  no  man  can  provoke  a  fight. 
District  Attorney  John  Woodward,  in  People  v.  Rainey, 
Mayville,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  27,  1895. 

A  PROPHECY  OF  RAILROADS. 

It  shall  speed  onward,  past  the  forests,  still  onward, 

through  the  gorges   of  the  mountains,   over  the  depths 

of  the  valley,  till  the  iron  horse,  whose  bowels  are  fire, 

shall  be  heard  thundering  through  the  echoing 

solitudes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

William  H.  Seward,  in  conspiracy  case,  Detroit,  Mich., 
1851. 

SUBSEQUENT  RATIFICATION. 

Omnis  ratihabitio  retrotrahitur  et  mandato  priori 
aequiparatur. 

A  subsequent  ratification  has  a  retrospective  effect  and 
is  equivalent  to  a  prior  command. 

REASON. 

It  is  agreed  by  all  jurists  and  is  established  by  the  law 
of  this,  and  every  other  country,  that  it  is  the  reason  of 
man  which  makes  him  accountable  for  his  actions ;  and 
that  the  deprivation  of  reason  acquits  him  of  crime. 
This  principle  is  undisputable.  ...  In  other  cases 
reason  is  not  driven  from  her  seat,  but  distraction  sits 
down  upon  it  along  with  her,  holds  her  trembling  upon 
it,  and  frightens  her  from  her  projjriety. 

Lord  Erskine,  in  defense  of  James  HadHeld,  Court  of 
King's  Bench,  June  26,  1801. 


168  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

REASON  THE  SOUL  OF  LAW. 

Cessanie  ratione  Icgis,  ccssat  ipsa  lex. 
Reason  is  the  soul  of  the  law,  and  when  the  reason  of 
any  particular  law  ceases,  so  does  the  law  itself. 

REMEDIES. 

Quod  remedio  destituittir  ipsa  re  valet  si  culpa  absit. 
That  which  is  without  remedy  avails  of  itself,  if  there 
be  no  fault  in  the  party  seeking  to  enforce  it. 

REMORSE. 

John  Randolph  once  said  that  in  all  the  vocabulary 
there  was  no  word  like  "  remorse."  Remorse  is  the  mil- 
dew that  gathers  upon  actions  irretrievable,  and  gnaws 
the  human  life  away.  Remorse  to-day,  remorse  yester- 
day, remorse  to-morrow,  remorse  every  day,  till  the  grave 
receives  him !  He  may  live,  he  may  know  what  he  is 
doing.  He  may  take  up  the  duties  of  an  every-day  life 
and  discharge  them  with  a  mechanical  faithfulness.  But 
he  can  no  more  enter  into  life  than  though  he  lay,  as  she 
lies,  eaten  of  the  worms.  Your  verdict  may  acquit  him, 
but  it  cannot  save  him. 

Henry  M.  Cheever,  in  Underwood  trial,  Detroit,  May, 
1879. 

REPRESENTATION. 

Gentlemen,  the  representation  of  our  people  is  the  vital 
principle  of  their  political  existence ;  without  it  they  are 
dead,  or  they  live  only  to  servitude ;  without  it  there  are 
two  estates  acting  upon  and  against  the  third,  instead 
of  acting  in  co-operation  with  it ;  without  it,  if  the  people 
are  oppressed  by  their  judges,  where  is  the  tribunal  to 
which  their  judges  can  be  amenable?  without  it,  if  they 
are  trampled  upon  and  plundered  by  a  minister,  where  is 
the  tribunal  to  which  the  offender  shall  be  amenable? 
without  it,  where  is  the  ear  to  hear,  or  the  heart  to  feel, 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  169 

or  the  hand  to  redress  their  sufferings?  Shall  they  be 
found,  let  me  ask  you,  in  the  accursed  bands  of  imps  and 
minions  that  bask  in  their  disgrace,  and  fatten  upon 
their  spoils,  and  flourish  upon  their  ruin? 

John  P.  Ciirran,  Trial  of  A.  H.  Rowan,  Jan'y  29,  1794. 

REPUTATION. 

Reputation  is  a  personal  right  of  the  subject,  indeed, 
the  most  valuable  of  any,  and  it  is  therefore  secured  by 
law,  and  all  injuries  to  it  clearly  ascertained;  whatever 
slander  hurts  a  man  in  his  trade — subjects  him  to  danger 
of  life,  liberty,  or  loss  of  property,  or  tends  to  render 
him  infamous,  is  the  subject  of  an  action,  and  in  some 
instances  of  an  indictment. 

Lord  Erskine,  Argument  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench, 
Eng.,  in  support  of  the  rights  of  juries. 


Undoubtedly  the  good  fame  of  every  man  ought  to  be 
under  the  protection  of  the  laws,  as  well  as  his  life,  and 
liberty,  and  property.  Good  fame  is  an  outwork,  that 
defends  them  all,  and  renders  them  all  valuable.  The  law 
forbids  you  to  revenge;  when  it  ties  up  the  hands  of 
some,  it  ought  to  restrain  the  tongues  of  others.  The 
good  fame  of  government  is  the  same;  it  ought  not  to 
be  traduced.  This  is  necessary  in  all  governments;  and 
if  opinion  be  support,  what  takes  away  this  destroys  that 
support;  but  the  liberty  pf  the  press  is  necessary  to  this 
government. 

Edmund  Burke,  Speech  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
March,  1771,  on  the  duties  of  juries. 

REPUTATION  AND  CHARACTER. 

Such  a  reputation  as  the  defendant  here  produces  is 
usually  the  growth  of  a  long  lifetime  and  is  seldom  the 


170  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

accompaniment  of  early  youth.  Recall  in  your  minds  at 
this  moment  the  friends  and  neighbors  by  whom  you  are 
surrounded  at  home.  The  best  and  most  reUable  are 
those  of  longest  standing.  Some  you  have  known  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  You  have  seen  their 
heads  whiten  as  the  winters  and  summers  have  come  and 
gone.  Their  characters  are  good  and  solid.  Little  by 
little,  day  by  day,  week  by  week,  month  by  month,  they 
have  built  them  up  as  firmly  as  your  beautiful  moun- 
tains; but  it  has  been  the  labor  of  long  years. 
Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  H.  C.  Black. 


Dives  suffered  in  hell  for  the  sores  of  Lazarus,  though 
he  had  nothing  to  do  with  them  or  their  origin. 

Joseph  H.  Choate,  in  case  of  Laidlaw  v.  Sage,  New 
York,  June  i8,   1895. 

PERSONAL  RIGHTS. 

It  took  a  long  time  to  learn  the  true  nature  and  office 
of  governments;  to  discover  and  secure  the  principles 
commonly  indicated  by  such  terms  as  "  Magna  Charta," 
the  "  Bill  of  Rights,"  "  Habeas  Corpus,"  and  the  "  Right 
of  Trial  by  Jury ;  "  to  found  the  family  home,  with  its 
laws  of  social  order,  regulating  the  rights  and  duties  of 
each  member  of  it,  so  that  the  music  at  the  domestic 
hearth  might  flow  on  without  discord;  the  household 
gods  so  securely  planted  that  "  Though  the  wind  and 
the  rain  might  enter,  the  king  could  not ;  "  to  educate 
noise  into  music,  and  music  into  melody;  to  infuse  into 
the  social  code  and  into  the  law  a  spirit  of  Christian 
charity,  something  of  the  benign  temper  of  the  New 
Testament,  so  that  no  man  could  be  persecuted  for  con- 
science sake,  so  that  there  should  be  an  end  of  human 
sacrifice  for  mere  faith  or  opinion;  the  smouldering  fires 


^MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  171 

at  the  foot  of  the  stake  put  out,  now,  thank  God,  as 
effectually  as  if  all  the  waters  that  this  night  flood  the 
rivers  had  been  poured  in  upon  them.  It  took  a  long  time 
to  learn  that  war  was  a  foolish  and  cruel  method  of 
settling  international  differences  as  compared  with  arbi- 
tration; to  learn  that  piracy  was  less  profitable  than  a 
liberal  commerce ;  that  unpaid  labor  was  not  as  good  as 
well  requited  toil ;  that  a  splenetic  old  woman,  falling 
into  trances  and  shrieking  prophecies,  was  a  fit  subject 
for  the  asylum  rather  than  to  be  burned  as  a  witch. 

It  took  a  long,  long  time  after  the  art  of  printing  had 
been  perfected  before  we  learned  the  priceless  value,  the 
sovereign  dignity  and  usefulness  of  a  free  press.  But 
these  lessons  have  been  taught  and  learned ;  taught  for 
the  most  part  by  the  prophets  of  our  race,  men  living  in 
advance  of  their  age,  and  understood  only  by  the  suc- 
ceeding generations.     But  you  have  the  inheritance. 

Joseph  Neilson,  Address  delivered  at  Saratoga,  August 

I,  1875- 

PERVERSION  OF  THE   RULES   OF  RIGHT. 

Alas !  how  often  the  great  rules  of  right — eternal  and 
unchangeable  right — are  perverted  in  man's  administra- 
tion of  justice!  How  often  the  accused  should  be  the 
accuser !  How  often  the  unoffending  sufferer  bears  the 
punishment  due  alone  to  others!  What  a  scene  is  this 
in  which  we  are  all  engaged ! 

Daniel  IV.  Voorhees,  Trial  of  Mary  Harris,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  July,  1865. 

THE    RENUNCIATION    OF    RIGHT. 

Quilibet  potest  rennnciare  juri  pro  se  introducto. 

Any  one  may.  at  his  pleasure,  renounce  the  benefit  of  a 
stipulation  or  other  right  introduced  entirely  in  his  own 
favor. 


172  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

THE  REVELATION. 

Lord  Chief  Justice  Vatighan,  to  his  immortal  honor, 
deHvered  his  opinion  as  follows : — "  We  must  take  ofif 
this  veil  and  color  of  words,  which  make  a  show  of  being 
something,  but  are  in  fact  nothing." 

Lord  Erskine,  in  defense  of  the  Dean  of  St.  Asaph, 
Shrewsbury,  Eng.,  Aug.  6,  1784. 

A  RULE  OF  LA^V  AND  LOGIC. 

Ubi  eadcm  ratio  ibi  idem  jus. 
Like  reason  doth  make  like  law. 

SCORN. 

The  finger  of  scorn  is  a  more  dreadful  instrument  of 
torture  than  the  cruel  ingenuity  of  man  ever  devised. 
Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  H.  C.  Black. 

SEDITION  AND  CONSPIRACY. 

In  one  case,  sedition  speaks  aloud  and  walks  abroad : 
the  demagogue  goes  forth — the  public  eye  is  upon  him — 
he  frets  his  busy  hour  upon  the  stage ;  but  soon  either 
weariness  or  bribe,  or  punishment,  or  disappointment, 
bears  him  down,  or  drives  him  off,  and  he  appears  no 
more.  In  the  other  case,  how  does  the  work  of  sedition 
go  forward?  Night  after  night  the  muffled  rebel  steals 
forth  in  the  dark,  and  casts  another  and  another  brand 
upon  the  pile,  to  which,  when  the  hour  of  fatal  maturity 
shall  arrive,  he  will  apply  the  torch.  If  you  doubt  of 
the  horrid  consequence  of  suppressing  the  effusion  even 
of  individual  discontent,  look  to  those  enslaved  countries 
where  the  protection  of  despotism  is  supposed  to  be  se- 
cured by  such  restraints.  Even  the  person  of  the  despot 
there  is  never  in  safety. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  A.  H.  Rowan,  J  any  29,  1794. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  173 

SELF  CRIMINATION. 

Nemo  tcnctiir  scipsum  acciisare. 

No  man  can  be  compelled  to  criminate  himself. 

SELF  DEFENSE. 

The  law  of  self-defense  is  written  in  the  heart  of  man 
more  plainly  and  powerfully  than  in  the  pages  of  libraries. 
We  here  place  our  feet  on  its  solid  and  eternal  founda- 
tions. We  build  upon  it  a  house  of  refuge  for  the 
prisoner,  which  will  withstand  the  fury  of  the  storm  and 
the  malice  of  his  enemies.  He  was  not  called  upon  to 
retreat.  I  spurn  the  doctrine  of  being  driven  to  the  wall 
or  the  ditch,  that  odious  doctrine  of  degradation,  danger, 
and  death  to  the  assaulted  party.  Every  inch  of  ground 
on  which  he  stood  was  his  own.  Who  had  the  right  to 
command  him  to  yield  it?  The  free  air  around  him  was 
his  wall,  and  he  who  sought  to  drive  him  further  em- 
braced the  peril  of  his  own  lawlessness. 

Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  H.  C.  Black,  Freder- 
ick City,  Md.,  April  i,  1871. 


We  place  the  ground  of  defense  here  on  the  same 
ground  and  limited  by  the  same  means  as  the  right  of 
personal  defense.  If  a  man  be  assailed,  his  power  to 
slay  the  assailant  is  not  limited  to  the  moment  when  the 
mortal  blow  is  about  to  be  given ;  he  is  not  bound  to  wait 
till  his  life  is  on  the  very  point  of  being  taken;  but  any 
movement  towards  the  foul  purpose  plainly  indicated 
justifies  him  in  the  right  of  self-defense,  and  in  slaying 
the  assailant  on  the  spot. 

Edmund  M.  Stanton,  in  Sickles'  trial. 


A  man  not  permitted  to  defend  his  brother  against  con- 
spirators? against   assassins,   who  are  crushing  out   the 


174  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

very  life  of  their  bruised  and  powerless  victim  ?  Why,  he 
who  would  shape  his  conduct  by  such  a  principle  does 
not  deserve  to  have  a  brother  or  a  friend.  To  fight 
for  self  is  but  the  result  of  an  honest  instinct  which  we 
have  in  common  with  the  brutes.  To  defend  those  who 
are  dear  to  us  is  the  highest  exercise  of  the  principle 
of  self-defense.  It  nourishes  all  the  noblest  social  qual- 
ities, and  constitutes  the  germ  of  patriotism  itself. 
5".  i'.  Prentiss,  in  Wilkinson  case. 


We  may  assume,  then,  that  wherever  a  right  is  given 
by  the  law  of  God,  even  though  not  expressly  recognized 
by  human  law,  and  the  violation  of  that  right  is  de- 
nounced by  the  moral  law  as  an  offense  of  aggravated 
hue,  to  defend  oneself  against  its  violation  is  an  act  based 
upon  the  principle  of  self-defense. 

John  Graham,  in  Sickles'  trial,  Feb'y,  1859. 


The  law  of  self-defense  has  always  had  and  ought  to 
have  a  more  liberal  construction  in  this  country  than  in 
England.  Men  claim  more  of  a  personal  independence 
here :  of  course  they  have  more  to  defend.  They  claim 
more  freedom  and  license  in  their  actions  towards  each 
other,  consequently  there  is  greater  reason  for  appre- 
hending personal  attack  from  an  enemy.  In  this  country 
men  retain  in  their  own  hands  a  larger  portion  of  their 
personal  rights  than  in  any  other ;  and  one  will  be  author- 
ized to  presume  an  intention  to  exercise  and  enforce  them, 
upon  grounds  that,  in  other  countries,  would  not  excite 
the  slightest  suspicion.  It  is  the  apprehension  of  im- 
pending harm,  and  not  its  actual  existence,  which  consti- 
tutes the  justification  for  defensive  action.  If  mine  enemy 
point  at  me  an  unloaded  pistol  or  a  wooden  gun,  in  a 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  175 

manner  calculated  to  excite  in  my  mind  apprehension  of 
immediate,  great  bodily  harm,  I  am  justifiable  in  taking 
his  life,  though  it  turn  out  afterwards  that  I  was  in  no 
actual  danger. 

S.  S.  Prentiss,  in  the  Wilkinson  case. 


The  doctrine  has  the  solemnity  of  judicial  establish- 
ment. In  Grainger  v.  The  State,  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Tennessee  deliberately  adjudge,  that  "  if  a  man,  though 
in  no  great  danger  of  serious  bodily  harm,  through  fear, 
alarm,  or  cowardice,  kill  another,  under  the  impression 
that  great  bodily  injury  is  about  to  be  inflicted  on  him, 
it  is  neither  manslaughter  nor  murder,  but  self-defense." 
"  It  is  a  different  thing,"  say  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  Mariana  Flora,  "  to  sit  in  judgment 
upon  the  case,  after  full  legal  investigations,  aided  by 
the  regular  evidence  of  all  parties,  and  to  draw  conclusions 
at  sea,  with  very  imperfect  means  of  ascertaining  facts 
and  principles,  which  ought  to  direct  the  judgment." 

David  Paul  Brozi'n,  in  the  Holmes  case. 


The  law  of  self-defense  has  existed  in  all  countries 
and  among  all  nations,  and  is  recorded  in  every  criminal 
code  that  has  been  ever  promulgated  among  civilized 
nations.  It  had  its  origin  and  was  proclaimed,  before 
the  advent  of  our  Saviour,  in  old  Rome,  from  whence 
the  civil  law  emanated  that  has  been  adopted  by  all  the 
nations  of  continental  Europe.  Tt  was  adopted  at  an 
early  period  in  Great  Britain,  as  part  of  the  common  law, 
and  was  brought  to  this  country  by  our  ancestors.  It 
is  a  law  above  all  human  laws ;  it  is  a  law  which  an  all- 
wise  and  all-merciful  Creator  has  implanted  in  every  hu- 
man heart  along  with  those  instincts  that  are  common  to 


176  INIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

the  animal  creation,  intelligent  and  unintelligent.  Hu- 
man laws  cannot  ignore  it  nor  obliterate  it.  It  is  a  law 
that  is  implanted  in  the  animal  creation  from  the  highest 
to  the  lowest.  The  lordly  elephant  as  he  roams  through 
the  forests  of  Africa,  when  pursued  by  his  hunters  and 
driven  to  bay  will  run  and  fight  his  pursuers;  the  vilest 
worm  that  crawls  in  the  dust  will  turn  and  bite  the  heel 
which  presses  it  down  and  crushes  out  its  life. 

Lyman  Tremain,  E.  S.  Stokes  case,  New  York,  Oct., 
1873- 


That  a  man  has  a  right  to  defend  himself  from  great 
bodily  harm,  and  to  resist  a  conspiracy  to  inflict  upon 
him  personal  violence,  if  there  is  reasonable  danger,  even 
to  the  death  of  the  assailant,  will  not,  I  presume,  be  dis- 
puted. That  reasonable,  well-grounded  apprehension, 
arising  from  the  actions  of  others,  of  immediate  violence 
and  injury,  is  a  good  and  legal  excuse  for  defensive 
action,  proportionate  to  the  apparent  impending  violence, 
and  sufficient  to  prevent  it,  I  take  to  be  equally  indis- 
putable. .  .  .  So,  on  the  other  hand,  if  I  take  the 
life  of  another,  without  being  aware  of  any  intended 
violence  on  his  part,  it  will  constitute  no  excuse  for  me 
to  prove  that  he  intended  an  attack  upon  me. 

The  apprehension  must  be  reasonable,  and  its  reason- 
ableness may  depend  upon  a  variety  of  circumstances — 
of  time,  place  and  manner,  as  well  as  of  character.  The 
same  appearance  of  danger  would  authorize  greater  ap- 
prehension, and  of  course  readier  defensive  action,  at 
night  than  in  the  day-time.  An  attack  upon  one  in  his 
own  house  would  indicate  greater  violence,  and  excuse 
stronger  opposing  action,  than  an  attack  in  the  street. 

Indication  of  violence  from  an  individual  of  known 
desperate  and  dangerous  character  will  justify  defensive 


MANUAL  OP  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  111 

and  preventive  action,  which  would  be  inexcusable  to- 
wards a  notorious  coward.  A  stranger  may  reasonably 
indulge  from  the  appearance  or  threats  of  a  mob  appre- 
hension that  would  be  unpardonable  in  a  citizen  sur- 
rounded by  his  friends  and  neighbors. 
.    S.  S.  Prentiss,  in  the  Wilkinson  case. 


The  principles  of  self-defense,  which  pervade  all  ani- 
mated nature,  and  act  towards  life  the  same  part  that  is 
performed  by  the  external  mechanism  of  the  eye  towards 
the  delicate  sense  of  vision — affording  it,  on  the  approach 
of  danger,  at  the  same  time,  warning  and  protection — 
do  not  require  that  action  shall  be  withheld  till  it  can 
be  of  no  avail.  When  the  rattlesnake  gives  warning  of 
his  fatal  purpose,  the  wary  traveler  waits  not  for  the 
poisonous  blow,  but  plants  upon  his  head  his  armed  heel, 
and  crushes  out  at  once  "  his  venom  and  his  strength." 
When  the  hunter  hears  the  rustling  in  the  jungle,  and 
beholds  the  large  green  eyes  of  the  spotted  tiger  glaring 
upon  him,  he  waits  not  for  the  deadly  spring,  but  sends 
at  once,  through  the  brain  of  his  crouching  enemy  the 
swift  and  leaden  death. 

If  war  was  declared  against  your  country  by  an  insult- 
ing foe,  would  you  wait  till  your  sleeping  cities  were 
wakened  by  the  terrible  music  of  the  bursting  bomb? 
till  your  green  fields  were  trampled  by  the  hoofs  of  the 
invader,  and  made  red  with  the  blood  of  your  brethren? 
No !  you  would  send  forth  fleets  and  armies ;  you  would 
unloose  upon  the  broad  ocean  your  keen  falcons ;  and 
the  thunder  of  your  guns  would  arouse  stern  echoes  along 
the  hostile  coast.  Yet  this  would  be  but  national  defense, 
and  authorized  by  the  same  great  principle  of  self-protec- 
tion, which  applies  no  less  to  individuals  than  to  nations. 

5".  5".  Prentiss,  in  the  Wilkinson  case. 


178  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

THE  A^VARDS  OF  SHAME. 

If  the  father  accepted  a  pecuniary  award  for  the  shame 
of  his  daughter,  it  would  bitterly  mock  him  in  all  the 
after  years.  In  what  channel  of  trade  would  he  embark 
with  the  proceeds?  If  he  bartered  them  for  lands,  his 
growing  meadows,  his  waving  corn,  his  ripening  wheat, 
and  flocks  and  herds  upon  his  hills  would  seem  to  be 
flourishing  over  the  dishonored  tomb  of  his  lost  and 
undone  child !  His  soul  would  sicken  at  the  sight  of  his 
own  prosperity  springing  from  such  a  source.  He  would 
turn  away  and,  though  filled  with  the  peaceful  precepts 
of  our  holy  religion,  he  would  invoke  the  death  of  the 
seducer  and  pray  for  the  blessings  of  Heaven  to  rest 
upon  the  hand  that  smites  him  in  his  career  of  wickedness. 

Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  H.  C.  Black. 

THE  HEIRSHIP  OF  A  SISTER. 

Possessio  fratris  de  feodo  simplici  facit  sororem  esse 
haeredem. 

The  brother's  possession  of  an  estate  in  fee  simple 
makes  the  sister  to  be  heir. 

THE  SLANDER  OF  WOMAN. 

Do  you  remember  an  occurrence  recorded  in  the  New 
Testament  which  happened  in  Galilee  1800  years  ago, 
when  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  brought  to  our  Saviour  a 
woman  taken  in  adultery  ?  The  crime  was  charged  upon 
her,  and  it  was  said  that  she  was  taken  in  the  very  act. 
When  called  upon  again  and  again  to  pronounce  judg- 
ment upon  her,  what  was  the  answer  suggested  by  a 
divine  compassion  for  the  frailty  of  poor  human  nature? 
"  He  that  is  without  sin  among  you,  let  him  first  cast  a 
stone  at  her.  And  again  he  stooped  down  and  wrote  on 
the  ground.  And  they  which  heard  it,  being  convicted 
by  their  own  conscience,  went  out  one  by  one,  beginning 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  179 

at  the  eldest,  even  unto  the  last ;  and  Jesus  was  left  alone, 
and  the  woman  standing  in  the  midst.  When  Jesus  had 
lifted  up  himself  and  saw  none  but  the  woman,  he  said 
unto  her,  "  Woman,  where  are  those  thine  accusers  ? 
Hath  no  man  condemned  thee?'  She  said,  'No  man. 
Lord ! '  And  Jesus  said  unto  her,  '  Neither  do  I  con- 
demn thee ;  go  and  sin  no  more.'  " 

This  was  the  example  of  that  first  and  greatest  priest 
whose  teachings  the  defendant  has  spent  his  whole  life  in 
professing — it  was  the  example  of  Him  who  said,  "  Judge 
not,  that  ye  be  not  judged.  For  with  what  judgment  ye 
judge,  ye  shall  be  judged  :  and  with  what  measure  ye 
mete,  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again." 

The  narrative  comes  to  us  in  that  sacred  record  which 
declares,  "  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall 
be  comforted,"  and  "  For  he  shall  have  judgment  without 
mercy  that  hath  shewed  no  mercy." 

Roscoe  Conkling,  Trial  of  Parker  v.  Spencer. 

COMMON  INTERESTS  OF  SOCIETY. 

We  are  allied  to  each  other  by  many  ties.  We  are 
husbands,  fathers,  and  brothers.  We  have  wives,  sisters, 
and  daughters.  These  vital  and  precious  domestic  rela- 
tions form  all  mankind  into  a  universal  holy  alliance.  By 
them  you  and  I  are  acquainted.  We  understand  each 
other  by  their  promptings.  Let  us  come  close  to  each 
other  in  this  discussion.  I  can  have  no  purpose  that  ought 
not  to  be  yours.  As  a  citizen  of  this  great  country,  de- 
sirous of  the  welfare  of  the  people,  desirous  of  the 
supremacy  of  the  laws,  I  can  not  invoke  any  results  that 
you  ought  not  also  to  desire.  We  are  all  wedded  to  the 
public  good.  We  do  not  want  to  destroy  the  peace  and 
good  order  of  human  society.  None  of  us  are  interested 
in  such  a  baleful  issue.     Good  or  evil  to  you  and  yours 


180  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

is  the  same  to  me  and  mine.  A  blow  at  your  peace  and 
homes  is  a  blow  at  all  the  homes  in  the  land,  and  an 
assault  upon  the  humblest  family  circle  puts  in  peril 
everything  that  we  all  hold  dear.  We  meet,  therefore, 
upon  a  coiTimon  level,  and  in  a  plain  and  simple  manner 
I  expect  to  speak  to  you  in  this  spirit. 

Daniel  IV.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  Harry  C.  Black, 
Frederick  City,  Md.,  April  21,  1871. 

A  SON  BY  MARRIAGE. 

H acres  legitimiis  est  quem  nnptiae  demonstrant. 
The  common  law  takes  him  only  to  be  a  son  whom 
the  marriage  proves  to  be  so. 

THE  INTERMEDDLING  SPIRIT. 

Sir,  it  is  but  the  development  of  the  spirit  of  inter- 
meddling whose  children  are  strife  and  murder.  Cain 
troubled  himself  about  the  sacrifices  of  Abel,  and  slew 
his  brother.  Most  of  the  wars,  contentions,  litigations 
and  bloodshed  from  the  beginning  of  time  have  been  its 
fruits.  The  spirit  of  non-intervention  is  the  very  spirit 
of  peace  and  concord. 

The  spirit  of  intervention  assumed  the  form  of  aboli- 
tionism because  slavery  was  odious  in  name  and  by  as- 
sociation to  the  Northern  mind,  and  because  it  was  that 
which  most  obviously  marks  the  different  civilizations  of 
the  two  sections.  The  South  herself  in  her  earlier  and 
later  efforts  to  rid  herself  of  it,  had  exposed  the  weak 
and  offensive  parts  of  slavery  to  the  world. 

Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Speech  at  Springfield,  III.,  April 
15,  1861. 

STARE  DECISIS. 

The  people,  in  forming  the  organic  law  of  the  govern- 
ment of  this  State  very  wisely  foresaw  that,  in  its  action 
and  progress,  questions  of  interpretation  of  the   settle- 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  181 

ment  of  legal  principles,  and  of  their  application,  would 
frequently  arise ;  and  thence  the  necessity  of  constitut- 
ing some  tribunal  with  general  appellate  and  supervisory 
powers,  whose  decisions  should  be  final  and  conclusively 
settle  and  declare  the  law.  This  was  supposed  to  have 
been  accomplished  in  the  organization  of  this  court. 
Heretofore  this  court,  under  the  Constitution,  has  been 
looked  to  by  the  people  as  the  tribunal  of  the  last  resort 
in  the  State ;  and  it  has  hitherto  been  supposed,  that 
when  this  court  had  decided  a  case  upon  its  merits,  such 
decision  not  only  determined  the  rights  of  the  parties 
litigant  in  that  particular  case,  but  that  it  also  settled 
the  principles  involved  in  it,  as  permanent  rules  of  law, 
universally  applicable  in  all  future  cases  embracing  similar 
facts,  and  involving  the  same  or  analogous  principles. 
These  decisions  thus  became  at  once  public  law,  measures 
of  private  right,  and  landmarks  of  property.  They  de- 
termined the  rights  of  persons  and  of  things.  Parties 
entered  into  contracts  with  each  other  with  reference  to 
them,  as  to  the  declared  and  established  law ;  law  equally 
binding  upon  the  courts  and  the  people.  But  the  doctrine 
recently  put  forth  would  at  once  overturn  this  whole 
body  of  law  founded  upon  the  adjudications  of  this  court, 
built  up  as  it  has  been  by  the  long  continued  and  arduous 
labors,  grown  venerable  with  years,  and  interwoven  as 
it  has  become  with  the  interests,  and  habits,  and  the 
opinions  of  the  people.  Under  this  new  doctrine  all  would 
again  be  unsettled — nothing  established.  Like  the  ever 
returning  but  never  ending  labors  of  the  fabled  Sisyphus, 
this  court,  in  disregard  to  the  maxim  of  "  stare  decisis," 
would,  in  each  recurring  case,  have  to  enter  upon  its 
examination  and  decision  as  if  all  were  new,  without  any 
aid  from  the  experience  of  the  past,  or  the  benefit  of  any 
established  principle  or  settled  law.     Each  case  with  de- 


182  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

cision  being  thus  limited  as  law  to  itself  alone,  would  in 
turn  pass  away  and  be  forgotten,  leaving  behind  it  no 
record  of  principle  established,  or  light  to  guide,  or  rule 
to  govern  the  future. 

Luther  B radish.  Opinion  given  as  Presiding  Judge  of 
Court  of  Errors,  in  Hanford  v.  Archer,  Dec.,  1842,  at  Al- 
bany, N.  1  . 

THE  STATE. 

Rex  non  potest  peccare. 
The  king  can  do  no  wrong. 

THE   STATE   AND  INDIVIDUAI/  RIGHTS   COMPARED. 

Quando  jus  domini  regis  et  subditi  concurrunt,  jus 
regis  praefcrri  debet. 

Where  the  title  of  a  king  and  the  title  of  a  subject 
concur,  the  king's  title  shall  be  preferred. 

PERSONAL  RIGHTS  AND  THE  STATE. 

Non  potest  rex  gratiam  facere  cum  injuria  et  damno 
aliorum. 

The  king  cannot  confer  a  favor  on  one  subject,  which 
occasions  a  loss  and  injury  to  others. 

THE  AUTHORITY    OF  THE  STATE. 

Rex  non  debet  esse  sub  honiine,  sed  sub  deo  et  sub  lege, 
quia  lex  facit  regent. 

The  king  is  under  no  man,  but  he  is  under  subjection 
to  God,  and  to  the  law,  for  the  law  makes  the  king. 

THE  STATE    NOT  BOUND  BY  ANY  STATUTE. 

Roy  n'est  per  ascun  statute,  si  il  nc  soit  expressement 
nosme. 

The  king  is  not  bound  b}'  any  statute,  if  he  be  not  ex- 
pressly named  to  be  so  bound. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  183 

THE  PERPETUITY  OF  THE  STATE. 

Rex  nunqiimn  moritur. 
The  king  never  dies. 

CONTRADICTORY     STATEMENTS. 

Allegans  contraria  non  est  audiendus. 
He  is  not  to  be  heard,  who  alleges  things  contradictory 
to  each  other. 

THE    PROSPERITY    AND    GREATNESS    OF    STATES. 

The  prosperity  and  greatness  of  empires  ever  depended, 
and  must  ever  depend,  upon  the  use  their  inhabitants 
make  of  their  reason  in  devising  wise  laws,  and  the 
spirit  and  virtue  with  which  they  watch  over  their  just 
execution ;  and  it  is  impious  to  suppose  that  men,  who 
have  made  no  provision  for  their  own  happiness  or  a 
security  in  their  attention  to  the  government  are  to  be 
saved  by  the  interposition  of  heaven  in  turning  the  hearts 
of  their  tyrants  to  protect  them. 

Lord  Erskinc,  Argument  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench, 
Eng.,  in  support  of  the  rights  of  juries. 

THE  REPEAL  OF  STATUTES. 

Leges  posteriores  priores  contraias  abrogant. 

When  the  provisions  of  a  later  statute  are  opposed  to 
those  of  an  earlier,  the  earlier  statute  is  considered  as 
repealed. 

STRIFE. 

Surely,  Mr.  Henry  Oldham  must  be  the  knight  errant 
of  the  age ;  the  Don  Quixote  of  the  West ;  the  paragon  of 
modern  chivalry.  He  fights,  not  from  base  desire  of 
vengeance,  nor  from  sordid  love  of  gold ;  not  even  from 
patriotism  or  friendshii) ;  but  from  a  higher  and  a  loftier 
sentiment ;  from  his  i)ure,  ardent,  disinterested,  unsophis- 
ticated love  of  glorious  strife.     Like  Job's  war-horse,  he 


184  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

"  smelleth  the  battle  afar  off,"  and  to  the  sound  of  the 
trumpet  he  saith,  ha !  ha !    To  him 

"  There  is   something  of  pride  in  the  perilous  hour, 
Whate'er  be  the  shape  in  which  death  may  lower, 
For  fame  is  there,  to  tell  who  bleeds, 
And  honor's  eye  on  daring  deeds." 

i'.  5.  Prentiss,  in  Wilkinson  case. 

SUNDAY. 

Dies  dominicus  non  est  juridicus. 

Sunday  is  not  a  day  for  judicial  or  legal  proceedings. 

SUSPICION  AND  CONVICTION. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  reflect  that  it  is  not  because  you 
suspect  a  culprit,  that  you  must  find  him  guilty ;  for  the 
wise  policy  of  the  law  itself  has  it,  that  the  more  hideous 
are  the  circumstances  of  the  offence,  so  much  the  more 
shall  Christian  charity  induce  you  to  be  incredulous  as  to 
its  perpetration. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  John  Costly,  London,  Feb'y 
23,  1804. 

SYMPATHY. 

But  you  must  remember,  gentlemen,  that  wretched,  in- 
deed, would  be  the  man  for  whom,  when  convicted  of  a 
heinous  crime,  there  would  be  no  eye  to  drop  a  tear  hi 
sympathy,  no  heart  to  break  in  sorrow,  no  head  to  bow 
down  in  disgrace  and  shame. 

Cash  C.  Hadley,  for  prosecution,  in  People  v.  Hinshaw, 
Danville,  Ind. 

SYMPATHY  AND  PUNISHMENT. 

If  criminals  are  to  escape  simply  because  their  punish- 
ment will  affect  the  lives  of  the  innocent  who  are  con- 


IVIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  185 

nected  with  them  by  bonds  of  blood,  or  marriage,  or 
friendship,  there  would  be  no  punishment  for  crime.  .  .  . 
Sympathy  is  human,  and  we  expect  you  to  sympathize 
with  these  relatives  and  friends.  But,  gentlemen  of  the 
jury,  I  ask  you  to  go  with  me  and  stand  at  the  midnight 
hour  by  the  body  of  poor  Thurza  Hinshaw,  lying  with 
her  face  to  the  stars,  and  the  snow  falling  in  her  hair,  and 
there  write  your  verdict ! 
District  Attorney  Otis  E.  Gulley,  in  People  v.  Hinshaw. 

HUMAN  SYMPATHY  AND   REPENTANCE. 

He  is  in  the  hands  of  friends  who  abhor  the  conduct  of 
which  he  has  been  guilty.  But  does  that  fact  debar  him 
of  human  sympathy  ?  Does  the  sinful  act  smite  the  erring 
brother  with  a  leprosy  which  forbids  the  touch  of  the 
hand  of  affection  ?  Is  his  voice  of  repentance  and  appeal 
for  forgiveness  stifled  in  his  mouth?  If  so,  the  meek 
Saviour  of  the  world  would  have  recoiled  with  horror 
from  ^Nlary  Magdalene,  and  spurned  the  repentant  sorrow 
of  Peter,  who  denied  him.  For  my  client  I  avow  every 
sympathy.  Fallen  and  undone,  broken  and  ruined  as  he 
is  by  the  fall,  yet,  from  the  depths  of  the  fearful  chasm  in 
which  he  lies,  I  hear  the  common  call  which  the  wretched 
make  for  sympathy  more  clearly  than  if  it  issued  from 
the  loftiest  pyramid  of  wealth  and  power. 

Daniel  IV.  Voorhees,  in  behalf  of  John  E.  Cook, 
Charleston,  Va.,  Nov.  8,  1859. 

TESTIMONY. 

1  will  go  through  the  case  fairly  and  discuss  it  fully. 
I  will  nothing  extenuate,  nor  aught  set  down  in  malice. 
I  will  base  my  argument  ui)on  the  testimony,  not  as  I 
ivould  have  it,  but  as  it  is.  I  will  sjicak  not  to  tlie  world, 
but  to  you,  who  can  correct  and  hold  mc  in  judgment,  if 
I  fail  to  redeem  the  promises  of  fairness  and  candor  which 


186  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

I  make.  Heaven  can  witness  for  me  that  I  desire  no  fame 
at  the  expense  of  these  unfortunate  men.  I  will  use  no 
bitter  words ;  I  will  affect  no  bitter  loathing ;  I  will  assail 
neither  man,  woman  nor  child,  except  under  the  urgent 
pressure  of  duty  and  necessity.  I  wish  I  could  be  spared 
the  painful  task  of  doing  so  at  all. 

/.  A.  Van  Dyke,  in  conspiracy  case,  Detroit,  Mich., 
Sept.,  185 1. 

TITLES  TO  PROPERTY. 

Qui  prior  est  tempore,  potior  est  jure. 

He  has  the  better  title  who  was  first  in  point  of  time. 

TRAITORS. 

The  laws  of  the  Persians  and  Macedonians  extended 
the  punishment  of  a  traitor  to  the  extinction  of  all  his 
kindred.  The  law  subjected  the  property  and  life  of 
every  man  to  the  most  complicated  despotism,  because  the 
loyalty  of  every  individual  of  his  kindred  was  as  much  a 
matter  of  wild  caprice,  as  the  will  of  the  most  arbitrary 
despot  could  be. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Lady  Fitzgerald,  Aug.  20, 
1798. 

TREACHERY. 

The  Cornish  plunderer,  intent  on  the  spoil,  callous  to 
every  touch  of  humanity,  shrouded  in  darkness,  holds  out 
false  lights  to  the  tempest-tost  vessel,  and  lures  her  and 
her  pilot  to  that  shore  upon  which  she  must  be  lost  for- 
ever— the  rock  unseen,  the  ruffian  invisible,  and  nothing 
apparent,  but  the  treacherous  signal  of  security  and  re- 
pose. So,  this  prop  of  the  throne,  this  pillar  of  the  State, 
this  stay  of  religion,  the  ornament  of  the  Peerage,  this 
common  protector  of  the  people's  privileges  and  of  the 
crown's  prerogatives,  descends  from  these  high  grounds 


JVIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  187 

of  character  to  muffle  himself  in  the  gloom  of  his  own 
base  and  dark  designs ;  to  play  before  the  eyes  of  the 
deluded  wife  and  the  deceived  husband  the  falsest  lights 
of  love  to  the  one,  and  of  friendly  and  hospitable  regards 
to  the  other,  until  she  is  at  length  dashed  upon  that  hard 
bosom  where  her  honor  and  happiness  are  wrecked  and 
lost  forever.  The  agonized  husband  beholds  the  ruin 
with  those  sensations  of  horror  which  you  can  better  feel 
than  I  can  describe.  Her  upon  whom  he  had  embarked 
all  his  hopes  and  all  his  happiness  in  this  life,  the  treasure 
of  all  his  earthlv  felicities,  the  rich  fund  of  all  his  hoarded 
joys,  sunk  before  his  eyes  into  an  abyss  of  infamy,  or  if 
any  fragment  escape,  escaping  to  solace,  to  gratify,  and  to 
enrich  her  vile  destroyer.  Such,  gentlemen,  is  the  act 
upon  which  you  are  to  pass  your  judgment;  such  is  the 
injury  upon  which  you  are  to  set  a  price,  and  I  lament 
that  the  moderation  of  the  pleader  has  circumscribed 
within  such  narrow  limits  the  discretion  you  are  to  exer- 
cise upon  the  damages. 

Bartholomezo  Hoar,  for  plaintiff,  in  Massy  v.  the 
Marquis  of  Headfort,  County  Clare,  Ire.,  July  27,  1804. 

CONSTRUCTIVE  TREASON. 

Gracious  God!  In  the  nineteenth  century  to  talk  of 
constructive  treason!  Is  it  possible  that  in  this  favored 
land — this  last  asylum  of  liberty — blest  with  all  that  can 
render  a  nation  happy  at  home  and  respected  abroad— this 
should  be  law  ?  No.  I  stand  up  as  a  man  to  rescue  my 
countrv  from  this  reproach.  I  say  there  is  no  color  for 
this  slander  upon  our  jurisprudence.  Had  I  thought 
otherwise  I  should  have  asked  for  mercy,  not  for  law.  I 
would  have  sent  my  client  to  the  feet  of  the  president,  not 
have  brought  him,  with  bold  defiance,  to  confront  his 
accusers,  and  demand  your  verdict.     He  could  have  had 


188  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

a  nolle  prosequi.  I  confirmed  him  in  his  resolution  not 
to  ask  it,  by  telling  him  that  he  was  safe  without  it. 
Under  these  circumstances  I  may  claim  some  respect  for 
my  opinion.  My  opportunities  for  forming  a  judgment 
upon  this  subject,  I  am  compelled  to  say,  by  the  strange 
turn  which  this  cause  has  taken,  are  superior  to  those  of 
the  chief  justice.  I  say  nothing  of  the  knowledge  which 
long  study  and  extensive  practice  enabled  me  to  bring 
to  the  consideration  of  the  case.  I  rely  upon  this:  my 
opinion  has  not  been  hastily  formed  since  the  commence- 
ment of  the  trial.  It  is  the  result  of  a  deliberate  examina- 
tion of  all  the  authorities,  of  a  thorough  investigation  of 
the  law  of  treason  in  all  its  forms,  made  at  leisure  and 
under  a  deep  sense  of  a  fearful  responsibility  to  my  client. 
It  depends  upon  me  whether  he  should  submit  himself  to 
your  justice,  or  use  with  the  chief  magistrate  the  inter- 
cession of  the  grand  jury,  which  could  not  have  failed  to 
have  been  successful.  You  are  charged  with  his  life  and 
honor,  because  I  assured  him  that  the  law  was  a  pledge 
for  the  security  of  both.  I  declared  to  him  that  I  would 
stake  my  own  life  upon  the  safety  of  his ;  and  I  declare  to 
you  now,  that  you  have  as  much  power  to  shed  the  blood 
of  the  advocate  as  to  harm  the  client  whom  he  defends. 
William  Pinkney,  in  defense  of  John  Hodges. 

PLACE  OF  TRIAL. 

When  our  forefathers  alleged  the  causes  on  which 
they  fought  King  George  seven  bloody  years,  they  laid 
down  as  a  marked  grievance  that  he  transported  American 
citizens  beyond  the  seas  to  be  tried  for  offenses  committed 
here.  It  was  one  of  the  prominent  causes  for  which  our 
fathers  bled,  for  which  Smallwood's  Maryland  regiment 
charged  on  the  battle-fields  of  the  Revolution.  They 
fought  for  the  right  of  trial  where  the  ofifense  was  com- 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  189 

mitted ;  the  right  to  be  tried  by  their  peers  and  neighbors ; 
the  right  to  be  tried  where  witnesses  are  known. 
Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  H.  C.  Black. 

THE  JUSTICE  OF  A  TRIAL. 

It  is  a  part  of  the  nature  of  frail  man  to  sin  against 
laws,  both  human  and  divine,  but  God  himself  secures 
him  a  trial  before  punishment,  and  tyrants  alone  re- 
pudiate the  justice  of  the  Almighty.  To  deny  to  an 
accused  person  the  right  to  be  heard  in  his  defense  is  pre- 
eminently the  attribute  of  the  worst  ages  of  brutal  des- 
potism. Condemnation  without  trial  and  punishment 
without  limitation,  is  the  exact  definition  to  my  mind  of 
the  most  atrocious  tyranny  that  ever  feasted  on  the  groans 
of  the  captive,  or  banqueted  on  the  tears  of  the  widow 
and  the  fatherless. 

Daniel  IV.  Voorhees,  Speech  on  Liberty. 

THE  OBJECT  OF  A  TRIAL. 

The  object  of  a  trial  is  nothing  more  than  the  reference 
of  facts  to  a  certain  rule  of  action,  and  a  long  recapitula- 
tion of  them  only  serves  to  distract  and  perplex  the 
memory,  without  enlightening  the  judgment,  unless  the 
great  standard  principle  by  which  they  are  to  be  measured 
is  fixed  and  rooted  in  the  mind.  When  that  is  done 
(which  I  am  confident  has  been  done  by  you)  everything 
worthy  of  observation  falls  naturally  into  its  place  and 
the  result  is  safe  and  certain. 

Lord  Erskine,  Speech  against  constructive  treason,  in 
defense  of  Lord  George  Gordon. 

THE  RIGHT  OF  TRIAL. 

/liidi  alteram  partem. 

No  man  should  be  condemned  unheard. 


190  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

My  Lord,  I  can  touch  a  bell  on  my  right  hand  and 
order  the  arrest  of  a  citizen  of  Ohio.  I  can  touch  a  bell 
again,  and  order  the  imprisonment  of  a  citizen  of  New 
York;  and  no  power  on  earth,  except  that  of  the  Presi- 
dent, can  release  them.  Can  the  Queen  of  England  do 
as  much? 

lVillia)n  H.  Seivard,  Statement  to  Lord  Lyons,  the 
British  Minister  to  the  U.  S.  1863. 

TRIALS  OUT  OF  COURT. 

This  issue  has,  for  years,  been  tried  in  bar-rooms,  in 
street  cars,  in  newspaper  officers  and  in  other  places  where 
men  and  gossipers  most  do  congregate.  It  has  been  tried 
ex  parte;  it  has  been  used  as  a  theme  to  feed  the  distemper 
and  craze  of  these  times — that  craze  of  suspicion  and  dis- 
belief which  doubts  the  honesty  of  every  one  and  every- 
thing; which  shakes  its  head,  and  wrings  its  hands,  and 
carps  and  decries  continually;  that  distemper  which  in- 
sists that  public  and  private  action  on  every  side  is  false 
and  venal,  and  that  whatever  is,  is  wrong.  To  libel  the 
days  in  which  we  are  living,  and  to  deride  the  purity  and 
uprightness  of  those  who  conduct  afifairs,  is  not  so  gen- 
erally the  fashion  that  of  course  hard  names  must  be 
called  and  gross  insinuations  made,  when  a  question  arises 
whether  certain  written  instruments  are  taxable  or  not. 

Roscoe  Conkling,  in  New  York  Central  R.  R.  tax  case, 
1874. 

PUBLIC  TRIALS. 

Our  habits  are  for  public  trial  and  investigation,  and 
our  liberties  will  last  as  long  as  our  trials  are  public,  and 
not  a  moment  more.  We  agree  in  that ;  we  have  this  love 
of  a  public  trial  from  our  ancestors. 

Rufus  Choate,  in  Dalton  divorce  case. 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  191 

TRIFLES. 

Was  it  a  trivial  and  ordinary  occasion  which  raised  this 
storm  of  indignation  in  the  parliament  of  that  day?  Is 
the  ocean  ever  lashed  by  the  tempest,  to  waft  a  feather,  or 
to  drown  a  fly  ? 

John  P.  Cnrran,  Trial  of  Judge  Johnson,  Court  of 
Exchequer,  Feb'y  4,  1805. 


TROUBLE. 

Trouble  is  a  mysterious  visitor.  It  seems  to  be  the  un- 
shunnable  doom  of  man.  It  has  been  well  said  that, 
"  Although  affliction  cometh  not  forth  of  the  dust,  neither 
doth  trouble  spring  out  of  the  ground ;  yet  man  is  born 
unto  trouble,  as  the  sparks  fly  upward."  That  same 
great  influence  which  has  impressed  laws  upon  all  the  de- 
partments of  creation — that  same  great  influence  which 
stretches  over  the  face  of  nature's  green  mantle,  and  again 
supplants  it  for  the  less  pleasing  dress  of  winter — that 
same  great  influence  which  has  designated  the  time  for 
the  dropping  of  the  leaves  and  the  falling  of  the  sparrows 
— is  the  will  that  guides,  and  the  hand  that  holds  the  rod, 
with  which,  in  this  life,  we  are  punished.  As  we  pass 
from  the  proceedings  in  which  we  are  here  engaged,  may 
we  be  permitted  to  repeat  over  their  result  ( which  I  con- 
fidently anticipate),  as  a  congratulation  to  this  defendant 
for  the  severe  ordeal  through  which  he  has  passed :  "  Be- 
hold, happy  is  the  man  whom  God  correcteth :  therefore 
despise  not  thou  tlu'  chastening  of  the  Almighty:  for  He 
maketh  sore,  and  bindcth  up :  He  woundeth,  and  His 
hands  make  whole.  He  shall  deliver  thee  in  six  troubles : 
yea,  in  seven  there  shall  no  evil  touch  thee." 

John  Graham,  in  Sickles'  trial,  Washington,  D.  C, 
Feb'y,  1859. 


192  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

UNCERTAINTY. 

With  Deference  to  the  Court  : — How  wonderful 
and  mysterious,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  are  the  vicissitudes 
of  human  life.  How  frail  and  precarious  are  our  best 
holds  upon  human  happiness.  Man,  the  boasted  lord  of 
creation,  is  the  sport  of  every  wind  that  blows,  of  every 
wave  that  flows.  He  appears  like  the  grass  of  the  field, 
flourishes  and  is  cut  down,  and  withers  ere  the  setting 
sun ;  like  the  dews  of  the  morning  he  sparkles  for  a  brief 
moment  and  is  exhaled.  There  is  nothing  earthly  certain 
but  uncertainty;  there  is  nothing  true  but  Heaven. 

David  Paul  Brown,  in  the  Holmes  case. 

UNCERTAINTY  AND  IMPERFECTION. 

Uncertainty  and  imperfection  are  stamped  upon  earth, 
and  upon  man,  its  choicest  production,  and  upon  his 
proudest  efforts.  Feeble  man  talking  of  certainty!  His 
loftiest  fabrics  crumble  beneath  the  step  of  time ;  or  are 
crushed  or  scattered  before  an  hour's  breath.  His  culti- 
vated intellect,  his  glowing  mind,  lie  shattered  and 
quenched  in  a  moment's  space.  No,  gentlemen,  no  such 
fearful  responsibility  rests  on  you ;  no  such  unerring  cer- 
tainty is  required  of  you ;  and  he  who  seeks  to  grasp  or 
attain  such  perfection,  will  only  realize  how 

"  Vaunting  ambition  doth  o'erleap  itself." 

/.  A.  Van  Dyke,  in  conspiracy  case,  Detroit,  Mich.', 
Sept.,  185 1. 

UNITY. 

Upon  this  principle  acted  the  dying  man  whose  family 
had  been  disturbed  by  domestic  contentions.  Upon  his 
death-bed  he  calls  his  children  around  him ;  he  orders  a 
bundle  of  twigs  to  be  brought ;  he  has  them  untied ;  he 
gives  to  each  of  them  a  single  twag;  he  orders  them  to 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  19S 

be  broken — and  it  is  done  with  facility.  He  next  orders 
the  twigs  to  be  united  in  a  bundle,  and  orders  each  of 
them  to  try  their  strength  upon  it.  They  shrink  from  the 
task  as  impossible.  Thus,  my  children,  continued  the  old 
man,  it  is  Union  alone  that  can  render  you  secure  against 
the  attempts  of  your  enemies,  and  preserve  you  in  that 
state  of  happiness  which  I  wish  you  to  enjoy. 
.  John  P.  Ciirran,  Trial  of  the  Drogheda  Defenders, 
April  23,  1794. 

USAGE  AS  AN  INTERPRETER. 

Optimus  intcrprcs  rerum  usus. 
Usage  is  the  best  interpeter  of  things. 

UTILITY. 

I  know  of  one  standard  by  which  to  determine  the 
merits  of  any  particular  occupation,  conduct  or  employ- 
ment. That  standard  is  utility;  whatever  is  useful  is 
honorable.  This  standard  is  simple  and  practical.  It  has 
the  object  of  all  worthy  actions.  The  merits  of  an  act  are 
determined  by  its  effects,  not  its  appearance. 

John  Van  Arman,  in  conspiracy  case,  Detroit,  Mich., 
Sept.,  1 85 1. 

VERDICTS  AND  OATHS. 

What  are  you  to  found  your  verdict  upon  ?  Upon  your 
oaths ;  what  are  they  to  be  founded  upon  ?  Upon  the 
oath  of  the  witness :  and  what  is  that  founded  upon  ? 
Upon  this,  and  this  only,  that  he  does  believe  that  there 
is  an  eternal  God,  an  intelligent  supreme  existence,  capable 
of  inflicting  eternal  punishment  for  offenses,  or  conferring 
eternal  compensation,  upon  man,  after  he  has  passed  the 
boundary  of  the  grave. 

John  P.  Curran,  Trial  of  Ilcnry  .Shcarcs  for  treason, 
Dublin,  July,  1798. 


194  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

THE  VILLAIN. 

Gentlemen,  such  a  man  is  of  such  rare  quahty  that  if 
confronted  at  last  with  the  proofs  of  his  crime,  whose 
recital  has  shocked  all  civilization,  he  could  and  he  would, 
as  he  has  done,  sneeringly  smile  in  the  awful  presence  of 
the  relics  of  his  victim,  torn  by  his  hands  from  her  stif- 
fening body,  and  exhibit  neither  passion  nor  emotion, 
neither  sympathy  nor  regret  for  the  unfortunate  child 
he  had  brought  to  a  premature  grave.  Such  a  man  could 
well  lie  in  jail  awaiting  his  trial  for  murder,  and  clothe 
his  villainy  with  the  mask  of  a  pretended  trust  in  the  Jeho- 
vah whom  he  had  defied,  and  play  the  saint  with  verses 
and  phrases  stolen  from  Holy  Writ.  He  could  listen 
with  grim  complacency  while  his  counsel  struggled  to 
weave  a  web  of  suspicion  and  accusation  around  one  whom 
he  knew  to  be  innocent,  and  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end  of  his  trial  for  the  highest  crime  known  to  the  law, 
remain  the  same  nerveless,  impassible 

"  Villain,  villain,  smiling,  damned  villain." 

District  Attorney  William  S.  Barnes,  in  People  v. 
Durant,  San  Francisco,  Cat. 

VIRGINIA. 

Virginia's  past  is  a  poem,  her  present  a  problem,  her 
future  a  prayer  with  every  throb  of  my  heart.  Virginia 
is  nearer  and  dearer  to  me  than  anything  else  in  the  world. 

Captain  John  A.  Wise,  in  Massey  case,  Norfolk,  Va., 
June  26,  1895. 

VISIONARY  CHARACTERS. 

It  is  the  character  of  him  who  glides  down  the  stream 
of  life  in  a  trance,  dreams  as  he  floats  along,  and  sees 
visions  on  either  shore.  Realities  exist  in  the  world,  no 
doubt.     Practical  views  are  certainly  the  best.     But  that 


IVIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  195 

impalpable,  airy,  and  unsubstantial  creations  of  the  busy 
imagination  come  now  and  then,  and  lure  the  children  of 
men  to  chase  the  will-o'-the-wisp  over  the  dangerous 
morass  of  life,  is  as  true  as  that  we  have  our  allotted  pil- 
grimage of  threescore  years  and  ten. 

Daniel  IV.  Voorhees,  in  defense  of  H.  C.  filack. 

VOID  ACTS. 

Quod  ab  initio  non  valet  in  tracfu  temporis  non  con- 
vale  scit. 

That  which  was  originally  void,  does  not  by  lapse  of 
time  become  valid. 

THE  WIFE. 

The  peculiar  virtues  to  be  exemplified  by  the  family 
queen  are  beautifully  stated  in  scripture — Prov.  xxxi  :io- 

31: 

Who  can  find  a  virtuous  woman  ?  for  her  price  is  far 

above  rubies. 

The  heart  of  her  husband  doth  safely  trust  in  her,  so 
that  he  shall  have  no  need  of  spoil. 

She  will  do  him  good  and  not  evil  all  the  days  of  her 
life. 

She  seeketh  wool,  and  flax,  and  worketh  willingly  with 
her  hands. 

She  is  like  the  merchants'  ships ;  she  bringeth  her  food 
from  afar. 

She  riseth  also  while  it  is  yet  night,  and  giveth  meat  to 
her  household,  and  a  portion  to  her  maidens. 

She  considereth  a  field  and  buyeth  it :  with  the  fruit  of 
her  hands  she  planteth  a  vineyard. 

She  girdeth  her  loins  with  strength,  and  strengthcneth 
her  arms. 

•She  pcrceiveth  that  her  merchandise  is  good  ;  her  candle 
goeth  not  out  by  night. 


196  JVIANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

She  layeth  her  hands  to  the  spindle,  and  her  hands  hold 
the  distaff. 

She  stretcheth  out  her  hands  to  the  poor;  yea,  she 
reacheth  forth  her  hands  to  the  needy. 

She  is  not  afraid  of  the  snow  for  her  household ;  for  all 
her  household  are  clothed  with  scarlet. 

She  maketh  herself  coverings  of  tapestry ;  her  clothing 
is  silk  and  purple. 

Her  husband  is  known  in  the  gates  when  he  sitteth 
among  the  elders  of  the  land. 

She  maketh  fine  linen  and  selleth  it;  and  delivereth 
girdles  unto  the  merchant. 

Strength  and  honor  are  her  clothing;  and  she  shall  re- 
joice in  time  to  come. 

She  openeth  her  mouth  with  wisdom ;  and  in  her  tongue 
is  the  law  of  kindness. 

She  looketh  well  to  the  ways  of  her  household,  and 
eateth  not  the  bread  of  idleness. 

Her  children  arise  up,  and  call  her  blessed ;  her  husband 
also,  and  he  praiseth  her. 

Many  daughters  have  done  virtuously,  but  thou  ex- 
cellest  them  all. 

Favor  is  deceitful  and  beauty  is  vain ;  but  a  woman 
that  feareth  the  Lord,  she  shall  be  praised. 

Give  her  of  the  fruit  of  her  hands,  and  let  her  own 
works  praise  her  in  the  gates. 

John  Graham,  in  McFarland-Richardson  trial,  New 
York,  May,  1870. 

THE  ACCUSED  WIFE. 

To  both  of  these  parties,  it  is  of  supreme  importance, 
in  the  view  I  take  of  it,  that  you  should  find  this  young 
wife,  erring,  indiscreet,  imprudent,  forgetful  of  herself, 
if  it  be  so,  but  innocent  of  the  last  and  greatest  crime  of  a 


MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  197 

married  woman.  I  say,  to  both  parties  it  is  important. 
I  cannot  deny,  of  course,  gentlemen,  that  her  interest  in 
such  a  result  is  perhaps  the  greater  of  the  two.  For  her, 
indeed,  it  is  not  at  all  too  much  to  say,  that  everything 
is  staked  upon  the  result. 

Rufus  CJioate,  in  Dalton  diz'orce  case. 

THE  PROTECTION  OF  THE  WIFE. 

By  the  contemplation  of  law,  the  wife  is  always  in  the 
husband's  presence,  always  under  his  wing;  and  any 
movement  against  her  person  is  a  movement  against  his 
right,  and  may  be  resisted  as  such. 

Edwin  M.  Stanton,  in  Sickles'  trial,  Washington,  D.  C, 
April  27,,  1859.     . 

THE  RIGHT  TO  MAKE  A  WILL. 

The  right  is  conceded  by  common  law  throughout  civil- 
ized countries  that  a  man  should  dispose  of  his  property  as 
he  sees  fit.  A  great  American  judge  has  said  that  old  age 
is  solitary,  and  often  the  only  way  in  which  an  old  man 
can  command  the  attention  to  his  infirmities  that  they 
merit  is  this  right  of  disposition.  This  right  cannot  be 
trifled  w'ith  in  a  particular  case,  and  yet  be  preserved,  and 
you,  sitting  as  jurors,  are  now  to  pass  upon  tlie  right. 

Wert  Dexter,  in  the  Ward  zvill  case,  Detroit,  Mich., 
Nov.,  1875. 

THE  WITNESS  PREPARED  FOR  TRIAL. 

Her  story  is  well  delivered — it  would  be  extraordinary 
if  it  were  not,  when  it  has  been  so  often  repeated. 
John  P.  Curran,  in  the  case  of  Egan  v.  Kindillan. 

WITNESSES  AND  OATHS. 

What  is  the  law  of  iliis  country?  If  the  witness  does 
not  believe  in  God,  or  a  future  state,  you  cannot  swear 


198  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

him.  What  swear  him  upon?  Is  it  upon  the  book,  or 
the  leaf  ?  You  might  as  well  swear  him  by  a  bramble,  or 
a  coin.  The  ceremony  of  kissing  is  only  the  external 
symbol,  by  which  man  seals  himself  to  the  precept,  and 
says,  "  May  God  so  help  me,  as  I  swear  the  truth."  He 
is  then  attached  to  the  divinity,  upon  the  condition  of  tell- 
ing truth ;  and  he  expects  mercy  from  heaven,  as  he  per- 
forms his  undertaking.     But  the  infidel ! — 

John  P.  Ciirran,  Trial  of  Henry  Sheares  for  high 
treason,  Dublin,  July,  1798. 

CONTRADICTION  OF  WITNESSES. 

There  are  three  ways  of  contradicting  a  witness. 
First,  by  assailing  his  reputation  for  veracity ;  and  why 
didn't  they  attempt  that?  They  dared  not  do  it,  for  the 
reason  that  he  stood  too  high.  He  told  them  who  he  was 
— where  he  could  be  found;  and  yet  not  a  witness,  male 
or  female,  with  the  host  of  friends  that  this  beautiful 
murderess  has,  could  be  found  to  assail  his  reputation  for 
veracity.  The  second  mode  of  contradicting  a  witness  is 
by  showing  that  he  has  made  different  statements  at  dif- 
ferent times  in  regard  to  the  same  transaction.  Was  not 
the  statement  of  Dr.  Burroughs  clear,  consistent,  honest? 
He  would  say  now  what  he  said  yesterday,  or  would  say 
to-morrow.  The  third  mode  is  by  proving  a  different  state 
of  facts  by  another  witness.  What  witness  contradicted 
him? 

U.  S.  District  Attorney  Edzvard  C.  Carrington,  Trial  of 
Mary  JJ arris,  Washington,  D.  C,  July,   1865. 


There  is  a  time-honored  story  which  is  commonly  used 
as  an  illustration  in  the  trial  of  cases.  It  is  of  a  will  case, 
the  contest  being  over  its  probate.     Counsel  asked  the 


INLWUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS  199 

proponent  who  sealed  the  will  and  she  said  the  testator 
did.  She  had  provided  the  materials  for  the  sealing,  but 
the  deceased  had  placed  the  wax  in  the  candle  and  had 
pressed  the  seal  in  her  presence.  Counsel  then  turned  to 
the  Court  and  said :  "  Your  worship,  it  is  a  wafer."  This 
is  the  wafer  in  the  case. 

District   Attorney    William    S.    Barnes,    in    People    v. 
Durant,  San  Francisco,  Cai,  1895. 

DISTRUST   OF  ^VITNESSES. 

Are  they  witnesses  to  be  trusted  with  the  report  of  evi- 
dence by  words  ?  Are  they  witnesses  to  remember  words 
where  everything  may  depend  upon  the  exact  expression, 
upon  the  order  of  the  language,  upon  dropping  an  epithet 
here  and  inserting  an  epithet  there,  by  which  the  guilt 
of  adultery  is  confessed  ?  Is  this  a  body  of  witnesses  that 
are  to  be  trusted  to  report  words,  that  are  the  issues  of 
life,  with  certainty  and  accuracy?  I  submit  that,  on  the 
outside  of  it,  the  whole  case  of  confession  to  be  listened  to 
by  this  jury,  is  a  conclusive  and  rational  distrust  which 
would  leave  my  client  in  no  fear  at  all  of  the  result. 
Here  is  a  man  that  cannot  be  trusted  to  carry  ten  bushels 
of  yellow  flat  cord  across  the  city  for  fear  that  he  would 
steal  half  of  it ;  who  cannot  be  trusted  to  take  a  hat  full  of 
uncounted  bills  to  New  York.  A  man  who  has  not 
honesty  enough,  or  fairness  enough,  to  weigh  the  hind 
quarter  of  an  ox — shall  he  be  trusted  to  weigh  out  gold 
dust  and  dimes,  and  count  the  pulses  of  life?  A  man  not 
honest  enough,  a  combination  not  honest  enough,  to  carry 
a  letter  without  mutilating  it  into  a  falsehood,  to  prove 
words  in  which  honesty,  intelligence  and  fairness  may 
be  entirely  omitted.  We  come,  then,  to  this  examination 
of  confession  exactly  i'l  this  state  of  the  case :  It  is  prob- 
ability, amounting  almost  to  a  miracle,  that  a  confession 


200  MANUAL  OF  FORENSIC  QUOTATIONS 

should  be  made  under  any  circumstances  at  all.  Con- 
fessions themselves  are  never  to  be  acted  upon  by  the 
jury,  unless  they  know,  upon  their  oaths,  that  they  have 
the  very  words  spoken  in  the  sense  in  which  they  came. 
They  never  can  have  that  assurance  if  they  have  not  a 
clear  and  undoubting  confidence  in  the  speaker  that  re- 
ports them.  And  their  case  opens,  I  say,  with  this :  that 
a  moral  miracle  is  to  be  established  on  the  testimony  of 
confessions,  by  the  evidence  of  witnesses,  as  a  body,  mani- 
festly and  apparently  undeserving  a  moment's  confidence. 
Rufus  Choate,  in  Dalton  divorce  case. 


INDEX  OF   SUBJECTS 


Accomplices,  i 
Accusers  and  accusation,    i 
Accusation    defeated,    i 
Acquittal,  a  demand  of  verdict 
of,  2 

effects  of  an,  2 

to  be  made  on  doubt,  3 
Action,  time  for,  3 
Adulter}-.  3 

Choate's  definition  of,  4 

not    inferred    from    opportu- 
nity, 4 

slaying  for,  5 

wife's  consent  in,  6 
Advocate,  the,  7 

duty  of  an,  7 

the  use  of  an,  8 
Agent    and   principal,   8 
Alibi,  8 

Allegiance  to  government,  9 
Ambiguity,  latent,  9 
Ancestry,  9 
Argument,  a  perfect,  9 

a  suicidal,  9 
Arguments  forcible  in  law,   10 
Assignees,  10 

Attorneys  and  their  clients,  10 
Attorneys'  duties,   10 
Avarice,   1 1 

and  crime,   12 

Belief  and  knowledge,   12 
Bigotry  of  protestants,   12 


Boy  or  man,  13 
Brother  or   sister,    13 
Burden    of    proof    in    criminal 
case,   14 
sustained  by  benefits,  14 
Burglary,  modern  bank,   14 

Case,  a  perfect,   15 

preparation  of  a,  16 
Cause,   the   immediate,  in  law, 

Certainty  in  law,   17 

true  and  legal,  17 
Challenges,    17 

for  favor,  17 
Changes,   18 
Character,   18 
Characters  compared,  21 
Charity,  22 

Children    as    judges    of    affec- 
tion, 23 
Circumstances,   23 
Circumslaniial   evidence,  24 
Client  and  advocate,  25 
Coincidences,    25 
Confessions,    25 

doubts  arising  from,  26 
Confidence,   27 
Conscience,   27 

the  convenience  of,  28 
Consent  in  law,  28 

under  protest,  28 
Conspiracy,    29 


201 


202 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


Conspiracy  to  murder,  29 
Constitution,  the — what  it  con- 
tains, 29 
of  the  United  States,  30 
loss  of  veneration  for  the,  31 
the  British,  31 
Contract,    the   obligation   of  a, 

31 
Contracts,  33 

and  municipal  law,  33 

and    society,    34 

and  the  law,  34 

the  dissolution  of,  34 
Convincing,   34 
Convictions,   sincere,  34 
Corporations.   35 
Counsel   characterized,   36 
Courage   and   conscience,   36 
Court,   acts  of  the,  S7 

and    judges,    the    duties    of, 

37 
of  Claims,  the,  37 
the  law  of  the,  38 
Crime,   38 
duty  of  society  toward,  39 
the  elements  of.  39 
the  evidence   and  the,   40 
the  increase  of,  40 
Criminal  cases  and  charges,  40 
conversation,  theory  of  dam- 
ages  in,   41 
intent,   41 
Criminals,  confused  minds  of, 
42 
the  administration  of  justice 
to,   42 
Customs,  the  popularity  of,  45 

Debts,  45 

Defense,  a  just,  46 
Despotism,    46 


Despotism,   the  destruction  of, 

47 
Discussion,  free,  48 

of  a  question,  49 
Divorce,   49 
Doubt,  a  reasonable,  49 
Duty  and  religion,  50 

of  the  district  attorney,  51 

Equity,  51 

Error,  acquiescence  in,  51 

the  pursuit   of,   52 
Errors  and  truth,  the  existence 

of,  52 
Evidence,  52 

and  oaths,  52 

by   anticipation,   53 

suppression  of,  53 
Exclusion,   54 

Family,  honor  of  the,  54 

relations  of  the,  54 
Fickleness,   56 
Financial  failures,  56 

wreckage,  56 
Fixtures,  57 
Flirtation,  57 
Forbearance,  58 
Fraud  and  right  of  action,  58 
Frauds  in  contracts,  58 
Freaks  of  fortune,  58 

Gambling,  59 

Gifts,  59 

God,  an  act  of,  59 

Government,  advantages  of  the 
United  States,  60 
American  political,  60 
the  fruits  of  good,  60 
the   general,   61 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


203 


Government,    the     theory    and 

object  of,  6 1 
Grants,  the  effect  of,  62 

of  future  interests,  62 

of  principals,  62 
Greater,  the,  and  the  less,  63 
Grief  and  shame,  63 
Guilt  and  intentions,  63 

circumstantial     evidence     of, 

63 
doubts  of,  65 
established  can't  be    purged, 

etc.,  65 
the  condition  of   65 
the  foundation  of,  66 
the  presumption  of,  66 
the  proof  of,  demanded,  67 

Habeas  Corpus  Act,  the,  67 
Heirs,  67 
Hesitation,  68 
Home,  68 

what  is  in  the,  69 
Honor,  family,  69 
House,  the,  71 
Human  imperfections,  71 

nature,  frailty  of,  71 

Idiocy  and  lunacy,  72 

the  laughter  of,  72 
Imagination,  73 
Implication   and   expression,  73 
Impossibilities  and  the  law,  73 
Indictments,  73 
Individuals,  74 
Informers  characterized,  75 
Inheritances,    75 
Innocence,  the  plea  of,  75 
Insanity,   76 

and  delusion,  78 

and  drunkenness,  79 


Insanity,  defense  of,  79 

Instincts,  man's,  81 

Instrument,  false  description 
in  an,  81 

Instruments,  the  construction 
of,  81 

Intent,  82 

Intentions,  good,  84 

Interpretation,  84 

Investigations,  civil  and  crim- 
inal, 84 

Irish,  the,  85 

Issues,  85 

Jealousy,  85 
Jeopardy,  85 
Jewel,  a  human,  86 
Judge,  the  duty  of  a,  86 
Judges,  86 

and  juries,  87 

and  jurisdiction,  87 

British,  87 

the  honesty  of,  88 
Judgment,  final,  88 

of   mankind,    the    intelligent, 
88 

without  trial,  89 
Judgments,  89 
Judicial  decisions,  89 

respect  for,  90 

notice,  90 

system,  the,  of  Illinois,  90 

tribunals,  91 
Jury,  the,  92 

duty  of  judge  and,  93 

system,    the    growth    of    the, 

94 

the  history  of  trial   by.  95 
trial  by,  97 

trials,  the  value  of,  97 
Juries,  duties  of,  97 


204 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


Juries,  duties  of  petit,  loi 

the  liberty  of,  103 
Justice,   103 

characterized,   103 

faithless    administration    of, 
103 

in  a  court  of,  104 

of  the  law,  104 

the  administration  of,  104 

the  temple  of,  105 

Kindred,  the  ties  of,  105 

Land,  the  possession  of.  106 

Law,  the,   106 
and  common  error,  108 
and  murder,  108 
and  order,  109 
equality  and  justice  in,  109 
founded  on  free  consent,  109 
innovations  of  the,  no 
knowledge  of  the,  no 
ignorance    of    the,    does    not 

excuse,   no 
the,  must  be  prospective,  etc., 

no 
the,  no  respecter  of  theories, 

no 
obedience   to,   protected,    ni 
the,  of  trifles,  in 
practice  of  the,    in 
principles  of  the  English,  II2 
reverence   for,    112 
security   under  the,    112 
submission  to  the,  115 
the  assistance  of  the.  115 
the  enforcement  of  the,  115 
the  execution  of  the,   116 
the  language  of  the,  116 
the  letter  of  the,  116 
the  mission  of  the,  117 


Law,  the  obedience  to,  117 
the  profession  of  the,  118 
the  protection  of  the,  120 
the  reasoning  of,  121 
the  sanction  of  the,  122 
the    spirit    of    disloyalty    to, 

122 
the  study  of  the,  123 
what  the,  punishes,  123 

Laws,  affirmative,  and  repeals, 
123 
and  their  application,  123 
human,  and   instinct,   124 
new,  126 

objections    to    the    constitu- 
tionality of,  126 
the  object  of,  126 
the  tyranny  of,  126 
the     validity     and     binding 

force  of,  127 
unjust,  127 

Lawyer,  the  requisites  of  a,  127 

Lawyers  in  history,  128 
the  fiduciary  record  of,  128 

Legal  fictions  and  equity,  128 
tender  and  the  currency,  128 

Legislation — divine  and  human, 
129 

Libel,  the  results  of  criminal, 
130 

Libels  and  libeling,  130 

Liberty,  131 
British,   133 

Life  and  death,  133 

Limitations  and  statutes,  133 

Loyalty,  the  foundation  of,  134 

Magistrates,  134 
Man,  the,  and  his  home,  134 
Marriage,  a  valid,   134 
the  evidence  of,  134 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


205 


Maliciously,  meaning  of,  135 

Mercy,  136 

Middle  walks  of  life,  from  the, 

136 
^lilitary  power,  136 
Mind,  the  human,  137 
Modesty,  137 
Money,  138 

the  influence  of,  138 

the  payment  of,   138 
Motive,   139 

and  action,   140 
Murder,  140 

and  insanity,  141 
Murderer,  the,  141 

Nation,  the  American,  142 
the  first  utterance  of  the,  142 

Nations,  the  law  of,  142 

Necessity,  143 
and  private  rights,  143 

Negative  proof ,  144 

Negligence  as  to  property,  144 

Newspapers,   144 

Notoriety  and  reputation,  144 

Nursing,   145 

Obedience,  145 
Oblivion,  146 
Ofiice  holders,  146 
Officer,  ^n  executive,   146 
Officials,  public,   147 
Opinion,  the  freedom  of,  147 

the  force  of,  147 
Oppression,   149 

Parent  and  child.  149 
Passion  and  insanity.   150 
Parliament  and  the  people,  151 
Parties  in  a  transaction,  151 
Patent  law,  the  national,  151 


Patents,  the  security  of,  152 

Penal  laws,  the  severity  of,  152 

People,  the  demand  of  the,  153 

Perjury,   153 

Perjurer,  the,  154 

Perplexity,   154 

Persecution,    154 

Personal  rights  of  action,   155 

Pirates,  156 

Political   rebuilding,   156 

Power  and  mercy,  156 

and  right,  157 

exclusive,    157 
Premeditating,  158 
Press,  a  free,  158 

benefits  of  the,  158 

freedom  of  the,  158 

government  and  a  free,  159 

influence  of  "the,  159 

the,   in   monarchical  govern- 
ments, 159 

the    liberty   of   the,    and   the 
people,  160 

the,  and  national  spirit,  160 
Presumption      against     wrong 
doers,  161 

as  to  acts,  161 
Proceedings,  bar  to  legal,  161 
Professional  skill,  161 
Promise   and   cause   of  action, 

161 
Property,     equal     rights     and 
claims  to,   161 

its  rights  and  liabilities,   161 

private,  162 

right  of,   162 

rights  in  common,  163 

rights  in  personal,  163 

transfer  of,  164 
Public  injuries,    164 

security,  165 


S()6 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


Public     spirit     and    the     state, 
164 

the  safety  of  the,  165 

the,  welfare,  165 
Punishment,  166 
Purchaser,   the,    167 

Quarrels,  as  to,  167 

Railroads,  a  prophecy  of,  167 
Ratification,  subsequent,  167 
Reason,  167 

the  soul  of  law,  168 
Remedies,  168 
Remorse,   168 
Representation,    168 
Reputation,   169 

and  character,  i6g 
Right,  personal,   170 

perversion    of    the    rules    of, 
171 

the  renunciation  of,  171 
Revelation,  the,   172 
Rule,  a,  of  law  and  logic,  172 

Scorn,  172 

Sedition  and  conspiracy,   172 

Self  crimination,   173 

Self  defense,   173 

Shame,  the  awards  of,  178 

Sister,    the   heirship   of   a,    178 

Slander,  the,  of  woman,   178 

Society,    common    interests   of, 

179 
Son,  a,  by  marriage,  180 
Spirit,    the    intermeddling,    180 
Stare  decisis,  180 
State,  the,   182 

the,    and     individual     rights 
compared,  182 

personal  rights  and  the,  182 


State,  the  authority  of  the,  182 
the,  not   bound  by  any  stat- 
ute, 182 
the  perpetuity  of  the,  183 

Statements,    contradictory,    183 

States,      the     prosperity      and 
greatness  of,   183 

Statutes,  the  repeal  of,   183 

Strife,   183 

Sunday,   184 

Suspicion   and   conviction,    184 

Sympathy,  184 
and  punishment,  184 
human,  and  repentance,  185 

Testimony,  185 
Titles  to  property,  186 
Traitors,  186 
Treachery,  186 
Treason,  constructive,   187 
Trial,  place  of,  188 

the  justice  of  a,  189 

the  object  of  a,  189 

the  right  of,   189 
Trials  out  of  court    190 

public,   190 
Trifles,   191 
Trouble,  191 

Uncertainty,  192 

and  imperfection,  192 
Unity,  192 

Usage  as  an  interpreter,  193 
Utility,   193 

Verdicts  and  oaths,  193 
Villain,  the,  194 
Virginia,  194 
Visionary  characters,  194 
Void  acts,   195 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS                  207 

Wife,  the,  195  Witness,     the,     prepared     for 

the  accused,  196  trial,  197 

the  protection  of  the,  197  Witnesses  and  oaths,  197 

Will,    the    right    to    make   ?  contradiction  of,  198 

197  distrust  of,  199 


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